About Malawi
On this page you will find short, informational pieces that will help you get a “feel” for the Malawian culture. It is so thoroughly different than the western culture and yet Malawians are so much like every man. They struggle with finances, relationships and plans for their future. Read on and join us in the “Warm Heart of Africa”!
GIVING IN THE THIRD WORLD
One of the greatest difficulties for "first world" Christians is determining how to be most helpful in the use of wealth in the "third world". It is important that we think through biblically what God desires for us to do with the resources He has given to us. For one analysis of scriptural teaching on this topic, download a PDF file of "Covenantal Giving - a Biblical Perspective on Mercy in the Third World".
Also, I have recently finished reading a book called, "When Helping Hurts" by two professors at Covenant College (where Britney attends school). It is a fantastic book on North American mercy ministry in the third world (and poverty stricken areas of North America)! I have put together 2 pages of quotes from that book providing a bit of the flow of thought that could be very helpful as you consider short term missions, mercy work and giving in those areas. Click on When Helping Hurts to download a PDF file.
ENGAGEMENT IN MALAWI
Written by a student in our Marriage and Family class
An engagement ceremony is very important here in Malawi and almost every tribe in malawi encourages a couple to conduct one before they get married. If a couple gets engaged by themselves it does not carry any significance. it is believed that during an engagement ceremony parents from both sides get toknow each other and build strong relationships among them because traditionally Malawians believe in extended families.
An engagement ceremony is also there for the two parties (the man's and lady's side) to work out how they can help each other in preparation for the wedding.
On the day of engagement a roasted chicken is shared between two representatives from the man's side and the lady's side. This symbolizes that if disagreements arise in the family the people who shared the roasted chicken will be there to help the couple solve the problem.
THE BAOBAB TREE
The following is a report on one of the most fascinating trees in the area by Shea when he was in 6th Grade
The baobab is a huge tree. It is really high and extremely wide. It can even grow to be 25 meters tall. The Australians hollowed out one and it was the town jail for awhile.
The flowers open up at night. The flowers are pollinated by bats. The fruit is about a foot long. The fruit dangles from a "rope." Inside the fruit is the pulp. It holds the seeds. The pulp is also used for cool drinks and food.
The Baobab is found in Africa, Australia, and Madagascar. It is found mostly around the equator.
There are three interesting stories about the Baobab. The first is that the devil picked up the Baobab and threw the branches into the ground and left the roots in the air.
Another is that the Baobab was one of the first trees to live on the earth; then came the palm tree. It was a lovely tree. The Baobab cried out that he wanted to grow taller than the palm tree. Then the flame tree was born and the Baobab got jealous of its flowers. Then the fig tree came into the world. So the Baobab prayed for fruit. But the gods got angry and grabbed the Baobab and put it upside- down so it would be quiet.
The last story is a true story. According to a safari guide, a guy was being chased by an elephant and he hid in a Baobab. The elephant couldn't get him. So he lived.
The Baobab can live for dozens of years. It is leafless for nine months in a year. It has a lot of water inside it to last all through the dry season. The water takes up most of the tree so there isn't much wood in the tree.
The Baobab lumber is used for houses. The bark is used for cloth and rope. The leaves are used for condiments and medicine. The fruit is to eat. The fruit is called monkey bread. It's really good.
The Baobab is a very interesting tree!
IN THE VILLAGE WITH JOEL
The following was written by Joel, when he was 15 years old, who spent three days in a village working with an orphan feeding program. His observations of Malawian life (VERY up close) give a clear picture of this unique land.
A couple weeks ago one of my teachers at the school, Kellen Hiroto, invited me to go to a village and help build an orphan feeding center that he was sponsoring. To be able to have time to do everything that he wanted to do we needed to stay in the village for a few days. I ended up going with Kellen along with one of my good friends, Mitch, from school.
Kellen had gotten involved with this village and orphan feeding center about a year ago through Stanley, a Malawian that worked in Lilongwe but his home village was very near the feeding center. Stanley was sort of our guide while we were in the village.
The orphan feeding center had not really been started when we got there. The villagers were still digging the foundation with picks and shovels. Since we were the only people with a truck it was our job to transport bricks from the makers' house to the sight where the feeding center was being built. We filled the truck and transported the bricks a couple miles down the dirt road to the building sight all the first day. We also transported sand for the cement. Kellen, my friend, and I never really got to help build the center because we were the only transportation, so that was our job. The only other way they could have transported bricks would be with an oxcart.
We would take a break a little later than noon to have lunch at Stanley's mother-in-law's house. The first day we had nsima, which is Malawi's staple food and cooked pumpkin leaves. For dinner we went to Stanley's mother's house to have dinner and we stayed the night there. We had nsima and beans the first night for dinner and nsima and chicken the second night. The second day we had nsima and beans for lunch at his mother-in-law's house. This is the normal food for Malawians every day if they have enough money. If they don't have any money they have nsima by itself. For breakfast we had tea and bread. The tea that the Malawians make is very weak and they use a whole lot of sugar, so it is pretty much hot sugar water.
One thing that the Malawians do is when they are speaking to each other they don't look at each other. We could hardly ever tell if someone was speaking to us. Also when we ate, the women didn't eat with us. It was usually just Stanley and us and sometimes another man from the village. We would be waiting for the dinner and we would hear a woman outside the room that we couldn't see say hello. We would wait for her to ask us how we were doing. She would greet everyone in the room individually and then leave, but she would be outside the room the whole time so we would hardly ever see who was speaking to us.
The house we stayed in was very nice for the village. We could tell that they had given us their best. The house had a couple small rooms and a tin roof instead of thatched. There was no ceiling though so the tin made the house very hot. We were only in the house at night when we were eating dinner and sleeping because it was in a village on the other side of a mountain away from where we were doing the work during the day. They did have a table to eat on and chairs to sit in. The small room that the three of us stayed in had one bed but was really just a platform; it didn't have a mattress or springs or anything. All it had was a bamboo mat.
Since there is no electricity, as soon as it was dark we really couldn't do anything. There was a candle in our room for a little light and a candle on the table to have light while we ate. Kellen and I both brought flashlights which helped us a lot. When it started to get dark we stopped working and headed back to the village where we slept. While we waited for dinner we sat in our room and talked and cleaned up. Malawians eat pretty late so we had dinner around seven or eight both nights. We would go to bed around eight thirty or nine because with no light we really couldn't do anything.
There was also no running water, so there were no toilets or showers. The toilet was an outhouse but with no seat. All it had was a drop hole. Even during the day it was very dark inside so we had to take flashlights with us. Right inside the hole were many large red bugs that lived there. There were also no showers. In the morning and at night when we wanted to clean up there was a little enclosed space for washing up. It was on a hill and the tight bamboo fence was up to our chests. So when we were inside with a bucket of water you could be cleaning up and look over the whole village at the same time. It was very strange. The water that we used was in a large bucket and was boiling hot! When we were splashing the water on ourselves we had to do it fast because the water burned our hands and body. We all took turns and used the same bucket of water except they would add more boiling water to it for the next person.
While we were in the village, kids would come from all over to stare at us. We would drive on the road and the kids would run up chanting "Azungu" which means "white person" in Chichewa. The second day, after we had gotten all our work done, we climbed around on the mountain that was right behind the village. The front of the mountain was just a huge rock face almost straight up, so we couldn't climb it, but we did climb around the base and climb up it a little ways in some parts where we could. We had about fifteen kids around ten years old following us all around the mountain and climbing it.
When we got back to the car after climbing the mountain it was starting to get dark but Stanley was not back yet. There was a soccer game going on right by the car and we joined in. They were a lot younger than us but we had a lot of fun and the Malawians were laughing and having a great time while we played. The drive back to our village was very strange. There was no road, just a foot and bike path so we drove down it.
We were all done with all the work we needed to do by the third day, so we hiked the mountain. A few good Malawian climbers came with us. We had to go around the backside to be able to get up but it was still at about a forty-five degree angle. The mountain was rock so we had to climb hands and feet up most of the time. We spent around an hour up top taking pictures and exploring. When we got down we checked on the building of the orphan feeding center and after some minor delays we drove home.
WEDDINGS AMONG THE NKHONDE (in the Karonga District)
From an African Bible College student
The Nkhondes value wedding ceremonies alot and this takes a lot of time and resources. Once a girl finds a mate, she dosn't tell anybody else except her auntie, who is the sister to her father. And when a boy finds a mate, he goes straight to his uncle who is his mother's brother. So these uncles from both sides agree on when to meet to arrange for the wedding day.
But the boy has to consider some things in mind. He has to pay bride price or "labola". This simply means he is appreciating the girl's parents for the work done while raising up the girl. This bride price is in terms of animals especially cattle. The amount of cattle to be paid is determined by the girl's uncle after they discuss with other family members.
The wife now goes and stays in the husband's home for the rest of her life. She can have children, but all of them are considered to be the father's lineage. If the husband dies, the wife is not allowed to go to her family, but she is told to stay within the society and marry the brother-in-law. They do this to continue the family line. But, she chooses to go back home, she leaves everything including the children and goes to her home.
Among the Nkhonde, the children are valued because they beilieve they're wealth. They say girls bring in wealth through labola and boys go find jobs to support the families. the good thing about the Nkhondes is that they have extended families. They can stay in the home with their grandchildren. Even if a family member dies and leaves the wife with children, one of the brothers or sisters who has a better job and house invites them to stay with them.
Divorce is rare among the Nkhonde. Since they believe that once the wife decides to find another man, she has to pay back the wealth her husband paid for her bride price. With this in mind many people decide to stay home even when the husband is a polygamist. This cheats most of the wives because they don't have a voice. But when they find out that the wife has another mate, the husband can divorce her at any moment.
WEDDINGS AMONG THE NGONI TRIBE (in the North)
From an African Bible College student
When the engagement process is over the two have to wed. Most weddings take place int he church. The day prior to the wedding day the girl is escorted to the boy's home with her relatives and friends.
When bringing the girl, they sing different songs. Most of the songs carry the message of wishing the girl well. Some of the the songs despise the girl that it was your wish to accept the boy now you are leaving your parents. Some of the songs despise the girls who have not yet found partners that they should not be admiring from their friend. it is up to them to start washing and bathing so that they are proposed.
The relatives of the girl sing against the parents of the boy in worry of how they will care for their daughter in-laws.
In the evening prior tot he wedding day the girl is covered with clothes and she carries a rod in her hands and abottle of pounded tobacco for the elderly people to smoke. Then she chooses a cow to be slaughtered for the next day.
During the night, counselors come to get the girl to the room of her husband to be. There they are taught how to care for one another in terms of sex relations. More stress is given to them relating to the Bible. When morning comes the girl and the boy are dressed for the church. There the two are joined together in holy matrimony.
In the afternoon of the wedding day people sing and dance giving in their money, gifts, etc. Everybody is happy. In villages the ceremony may take two to three days but in town it lasts for one day. Thereafter the newly married girl is introduced to the relatives of her husband and she is taught what she is expected of her in caring for her in-laws.
As soon as the introduction is over the new couple is free to go for honeymoon!