FROM CHINAMWALI TO CHILANGIZO:

Focus Groups. From February to August 2001, I participated in, observed and listened
to women's life experiences through focus groups. At Msambo church in the eastern
Lilongwe I met on five occasions with ten to twenty alangizi and on two occasions with
about fifteen girls from the surrounding Baptist churches. At Chidothi church in south­
ern Lilongwe I met with ten to fifteen alangizi on three occasions. At Chimenya in
western Lilongwe I participated in two meetings, one with twelve alangizi and the other
with the alangizi and their girls 4 from the surrounding churches over a three-day period.
I also had three sessions with five to ten instructresses from five churches in urban
Lilongwe. In addition to the focus groups, I held discussions with incidental groups
such as at one of the women's weekly meetings at Mtendere and Msambo Baptist
Churches; at one of the women's associational meetings where I had the opportunity to
listen to discussions about chilangizo led by the association alangizi; and at the
BACOMA annual general meeting where I participated in a discussion session with
about thirty pastors' wives.
Participation in the group discussions gave me a wider picture ofthe state of chilangizo
in the Baptist churches. The purpose of the groups was to enable women to share life
experiences related to chilangizo and discuss suggestions for improving the ceremony
and the written material associated with it.
Oral interviews. Chinamwali among the Chewa falls under the chiefs jurisdiction,
therefore I interviewed one chief to learn about his views on the Christian chilangizo,
and the challenges it poses to his chieftaincy. I also interviewed a Christian chief to find
out his attitude toward both chinamwali and chilangizo. During the observation of the
'mock' chinamwali I carried out extensive interviews with the anamkungwi and some
Chewa pastors and alangizi. I interviewed in total seventeen (17) informants whose
names do not appear in the text nor in the sources list.
In order to ascertain the attitude of the churches toward both chilangizo and china­
mwali, I carried out both formal and informal interviews with fifty church members, in
groups as well as individually. These included pastors and pastors' wives, alangizi,
women members, missionaries, and girls. For formal interviews, I purposely selected
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