FROM CHINAMWALI TO CHILANGIZO:

port the teaching. The instruction for the girls' chinamwali focuses on puberty and its
implications, as well as the required behaviour ofone who is now an adult.
The missionaries and the Malawian leaders carried out training, emphasizing that the
instructresses use the newly introduced booklet to instruct the girls upon puberty. Little
emphasis however, was placed on ritual, symbols and the development of ceremonies
that would encapsulate the teaching. The early enthusiasm and emphasis on leadership
training at national and associationallevel began to wane gradually until every congre­
gation was responsible for its own chilangizo. This state of affairs is evident in the way
chilangizo is perceived and carried out at the grassroots level as shown in chapter six
below.
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