FROM CHINAMWALI TO CHILANGIZO:

down, the wife holds his sexual organs and wipes them gently with a small piece of
cloth.
A drama to test the faithfulness of the wife to her husband usually ends the sexual in­
struction. There can be slight variations on the details, but the drama I observed went as
follows:
Two couples perform. Each husband says to his wife, 'Since we have nothing in this
house, I am going to look for work in the city.' The wives agree and the husbands bid
farewell to the mothers-in-law as well after explaining why they are going away. Then
upon their return, one husband finds another man with his wife, who, of course flees.
The angry husband goes to complain to the anamkungwi asking her, 'Did you really
counsel her well? Look at what she has done!' It is therefore the responsibility of the
anamkungwi to sort out such matters in order to preserve the marriage. The other hus­
band finds his wife without any problem. After she welcomes him, he goes to thank the
anamkungwi that his wife really understood the mwambo (counsel) that she was given.
'Look we are together again!' the husband proudly comments. Although no explanation
was given to the girls, the drama was self-explanatory.49
My informant also told me that the women had not given some of the counsel referred
to as zakumphasa (literally of 'sleeping mats'), and meaning 'of the bedroom.' Such
counsel is given in full to newly wed couples. The husband and wife are supposed to
perform to each other to prove that they were initiated. Some of the counsel appears in
the documentary in Appendix A.
To solemnize the ritual, a swearing in ceremony ends the vigil. The anamkungwi tell the
girls that what they are going through is very secret; nothing should be revealed to any­
one, not even to their mothers or they would die. In a closed circle the anamkungwi and
the initiates kneel down in the middle ofthe room. While singing softly they all beat the
ground repeatedly with their palms, ending by pointing toward heaven, and mentioning
Leza (one ofthe Chewa names for God which comes from a root verb meaning kulera,
to nurse) (Van Breugel 2001 :30).50 Beating the ground is one way of swearing an oath;
58