FROM CHINAMWALI TO CHILANGIZO:

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nences too great a strain as well as meaningless. Perhaps that is why many Christian men insisted that the alangizi be taught to instruct only Christian things and not zachi kunja. With regard to the first menstruation of a girl, twelve out of twenty rural girls who attended a chilangizo at Chimenya church, explained that their mother gave them some herbal medicine to eat at the end of their first menstruation. The mothers were church members. This confirmed the belief in sexual abstinence until the girl is given some herbal mixture to purify the menstrual blood. This substantiates Edet's statement that: Blood is treated with awe and circumspection in all cultures, for it has a mysterious potency that can be dangerous unless properly handled.... In connection with puberty and birth, women during menstruation and birth carry a contagion and require ceremonial cleansing. (Edet 1992:27) Some of the girls mentioned that they were forbidden to salt any food while cooking when menstruating, while others were not forbidden. The women who were interviewed expressed fear that to break these taboos would bring death or mdulo upon the girl. Most alangizi also admitted that many rural Christians, especially mothers, go through these practices for fear ofbreaking the ancestral customs, and hence suffering from mis fortunes. Although chilangizo has been in existence for over thirty years in BACOMA, it has not brought liberation to Chewa women as they still live in fear of breaking taboos and thus bringing misfortune and disharmony upon themselves, their families and the whole community. Chewa Christians, both men and women, are in a dilemma because they want to remain true to their Christian values, yet the fear of breaking traditional taboos and being pun ished is great. 6.9 CONCLUSION Chilangizo was an attempt to 'christianize' the traditional rite, but in many respects, it is far from achieving the real purpose. The booklet does not adequately respond to the socio-religious purpose that chinamwali achieves in traditional Chewa society. In chi- 109
namwali the young woman is treated as a whole person. This is in contrast to the Christian rite which fails to reincorporate her into the community. In addition there is a huge dissonance between the prescribed liturgy and what is done at grassroots level. The practitioners show dissatisfaction with both the content and the performance of the Christian rite. All these are evidence that the church has failed to understand the mean ing ofthe traditional rite and all aspects associated with it. As a result the church has not interpreted chinamwali and its associated meanings fully with the mother tongue Scrip tures. The best place for BACOMA to begin is by thoroughly understanding the traditional rites and the meanings associated with all aspects of the rites. Then there is a need to study the mother tongue Scriptures to understand how Scripture re-interprets china mwali and its associated meanings. This should lead into an interactive process of dis cussion, reflection and teaching. Chapter 7 is my attempt to begin this process and make recommendations to BACOMA. 110
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FROM CHINAMWALI TO CHILANGIZO: THE
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MWACHIDULE Chimangiriro ichi chikuf
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TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION n ABS
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MAPS........................•...
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1. INTRODUCTION Ntchembere yanzeru,
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My motivation, therefore, in the st
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In her work, Women, Presbyterianism
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This study covers female initiation
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vation and interviewing. The method
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church leaders, both men and women,
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Scriptures in order to understand w
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2. THE 'RELIGIOUS ITINERARY'? OF TH
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name of a person or his title to de
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lineage, and the whole community. F
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cross boundaries), and ziwanda ('ev
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ciation and 'celebration ofthe powe
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3. THE EMERGENCE OF THE SOUTHERN BA
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(2001:12) points out, three things
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tongues. Hilary Mijoga (1998:31) no
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2002). The two groups continued sep
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instrumental in supporting the idea
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On the mission field not all missio
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Autonomy is a term which expresses
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that our likulu is in heaven, and t
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Chewa is that menstrual blood is sa
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girls are 'captured' and put in the
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nity of both the living and the anc
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evil intentions at the initiation c
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Makanja or namkhwanya are masked da
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The first day's activities end with
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Then at the end ofthe song all the
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In the evening the initiates perfon
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While singing the same song above,
Page 68 and 69: the other being 'cutting' one's thr
Page 70 and 71: ishing them, especially if any of t
Page 72 and 73: stand and makes her jump over the s
Page 74 and 75: has her menses. Ulemu is also manif
Page 76 and 77: Teaching on the observance of taboo
Page 78 and 79: importance of the ritual. The prese
Page 80 and 81: When they are buried in the ground,
Page 82 and 83: 5. CHILANGIZO: A CHRISTIAN RESPONSE
Page 84 and 85: Merely to condemn their rites and g
Page 86 and 87: Adopting the Christian faith, as Wa
Page 88 and 89: She mentioned that she did not know
Page 90 and 91: espectively (with pennission) ofbot
Page 92 and 93: port the teaching. The instruction
Page 94 and 95: 6.2 CHILANGIZO CEREMONY AT CHIMENYA
Page 96 and 97: elderly people to mill their maize,
Page 98 and 99: women repeated most of what had bee
Page 100 and 101: There are dos and donts!' The whole
Page 102 and 103: Traditional beliefs. Things do chan
Page 104 and 105: such as phada (girls' game ofjumpin
Page 106 and 107: All the three ceremonies show that
Page 108 and 109: Generally, rituals Help people reme
Page 110 and 111: Human life is seen as a unity betwe
Page 112 and 113: The three case studies ofzilangizo
Page 114 and 115: With regard to the teaching content
Page 116 and 117: The booklet does not give instructi
Page 120 and 121: 7. CONCLUSION: TOWARDS A CHRISTIAN
Page 122 and 123: The Scriptures say a great deal abo
Page 124 and 125: it is the mother who is normally ac
Page 126: about the fact that 'chikondi chang
Page 129 and 130: married couples as well, it would a
Page 131 and 132: social' (Oduyoye 1992:9). Through d
Page 133 and 134: seclusion until the chinamwali cere
Page 135 and 136: Please note that singing, dancing,
Page 137 and 138: The meaning is that this is the cou
Page 139 and 140: 9. Ndinu mudanlenga inetu eee! Muda
Page 141 and 142: Onse azibvina akugwira thupi lawo n
Page 143 and 144: tion and gift-giving time. While al
Page 145 and 146: 7.5 CONCLUSION The aim of this litu
Page 147 and 148: Chapter two 7. See Howell, A (2001)
Page 149 and 150: also be either a Christian or a non
Page 151 and 152: 51. Chingondo must have a very sign
Page 153 and 154: Chapter six 67. Although the pastor
Page 155 and 156: SOURCES CONSULTED 1. Primary source
Page 157 and 158: --- 1995. Christianity in Africa: T
Page 159 and 160: The National Atlas ofMalawi, 1983.
Page 161 and 162: DeGabriele, J 1999. When pills don'
Page 163 and 164: GLOSSARY OF CHEWA WORDS· Abambo Ab
Page 165: Mkuzi M1andu Mmeto Mnjeza Mpalo str
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PLATE 3 Chingondo - On the Head of
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PLATES Chilangizo at Mphindo Baptis
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chiefs house so that we could light
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going round the village they would
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all join in ululating and take the
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girls, covered all round with cloth
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9. Mkanda de, mkanda wa mkamwa Ndat
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I left for the ground when a messag
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The girls danced for a while and th
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, Many infonnants called mkangali t
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Meaning: This is the time to be cou
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would punish her in different ways,
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Akakwatana. When in marriage. A dra
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58. Ndamvera kwathu, yaya Mwana wan
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The Chingondo (Headcrown) Ritual We
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frightening them, or punishing them
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dancing team. After dancing for a w
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They are however, reminded that aft
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APPENDIX D (Translated with permiss
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for a while from norrnallife and pu
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Gwiritsani ntchito ndime zalembedwa
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Ndi udindo wa alangizi kukonza maph
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Machembere ayenera kumawafupa atsik
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Anthu onse nkuseka. Ndipo anamkungw
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Amayiwo ayenera kusonyeza ntchito y
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Adzichitira ulemu nyumba ya Mulungu
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