|
|
|
|
| Features |
| Dangerous way of merry-making |
|
by
Francis Tayanjah-Phiri, 15 August 2003
-
14:05:48
|
When harvest time descends and food is plentiful in the rural areas of Malawi, it is usually time for villagers to make merry. And, talk of that, people of remote villages of Mzimba north and most parts of Rumphi in northern Malawi, have their version of merry making: pwelelera mwanawamama (Take care daughter of my mother in Tumbuka).
Most villagers you ask about pwelelera, or pwelemu (as it is called in Mzimba), would first laugh, look you up in the face, before telling you pwelelera mwanawamama.
Pwelelera, mwanawamama is often associated with darkness. When villagers have harvested enough, they think it is time to thank their in-laws, especially when their daughter just married the previous year, or, has just delivered a baby.
Who then would not like to be associated with a village delegation on an errand to thank a young man for ably paying dowry and marrying a girl from your village? And, why not be a party to the merry-making in thanking that young man?
That is how it starts: Women prepare flour, local beer (Mkontho or Kindi), and assorted gifts, organise all those who are free to accompany the entourage, to thank the ‘in-laws’. Sometimes travelling long distances, they sing all along the way to where their daughter was married.
Arriving at such a village, one of the few men who form part of the delegation announces their arrival and leads the delegation the traditional greetings that also outline the mission of the delegation, before the hosts reciprocate.
After announcing how they have taken care of their ‘daughter-in-law’, the hosts ask the visitors to join them in merry-making. Food is served, and beer drinking starts, while gifts (mithulo) are presented by the visitors.
And, when the sun sets and dusk swallows the atmosphere, both hosts and visitors would want to start thanking each other for the full tummies, through dancing.
It starts with men and women who know how to dance mtungo, a traditional dance which fuses music, hand clapping and sounds from a big bottle. Mostly playing slow numbers, men and women invade the dancing arena, holding each other, first timidly.
Then when the beer starts conquering the minds, the gap between the married and the unmarried, the elderly and the young, gets narrower.
Elderly women start eyeing the young boys and the girls get glued to the elderly men. That is when, leaders of the dance would shout: Pwelelera mwanawamama! and everyone knows then that the dance has reached its climax. If any of the girls is not careful, her intoxicated mind and the magic of the dance, would see her being dragged to a ‘dark corner’ by a ‘crafty’ man.
It goes on like that throughout the night. No one is young and no one is old, all are equal during pwelelera mwanawamama.
This custom has caused a sensation in most parts of Rumphi and northern areas of Mzimba such as Euthini, Enukweni and Kazuni. While some among all ages enjoy the dance, some among the society condemn it.
And, while many traditional leaders distance themselves from the tradition, talk is rife that some prominent chiefs like it and have since adopted a version of pwelelera mwanawamama, which they dance on the eve of installation of village headmen.
This trend of tolerating and encouraging the tradition has brought about a lot of concern from many other people in northern Malawi, alleging that the tradition has led to high school dropout among girls whose pregnancies are traced from the night-long merry-making.
“What type of dance is this that girls, boys, women and men dance while holding each other in dark corners the whole night? This only encourages bad feelings for each other, and the end result is usually unprotected sex that leads to the girls getting pregnant,” says Clara Benson Mlenga, a teacher at Enukweni Primary School.
Mlenga, who confirms that the practice is rife at areas around Enukweni, stretching to the whole Henga valley in Rumphi, feels parents should be educated on the dangers of allowing their children, especially girls, taking part in Pwelelera mwanawamama.
Not only is the girl child a concern for those who are opposed to the tradition, but many also feel the tradition could be a major contributing factor to the rise of HIV/Aids cases in the areas where it is practised.
“Most of our girls who are taken by elderly women to carry mithulo (gift parcels) to their in-laws and partake in Pwelelera, usually indulge in sexual activities during those nights. Since most of the men that go there are villagers, and condoms are not as much used in villages, our girls are at risk of contracting HIV, hence this custom must be discouraged,” says Rose Nya Manda, a parent of Zigodo Hlema Village, Chief Mtwalo’s area in Mzimba.
Nya Manda feels government should come in to order chiefs to stop their subjects from practising Pwelelera, adding that if nothing is done immediately, communities stand to lose many people to HIV/Aids.
Inkosi Mpherembe, one of the influential chiefs in the predominantly Ngoni tribe Mzimba district, says pwelemu is alien in their tribe, and was just a ‘borrowed tradition’ which would wreck the values of their culture if unchecked.
“I have heard that in other parts people have copied such a thing, but let me stress that it is not part of the Ngoni culture,” says Inkosi Mpherembe, himself a trained clinical officer.
He adds: “It is not only pwelemu that has to be discouraged but even these other seductive dances that our children are adopting from TVs must not be entertained.”
Senior Group Village Headman Jalira Botha of Rumphi confirmed that some people in the district indeed organise pwelelera mwanawamama, but stresses it is not part of the Tumbuka culture.
Educationists and those who advocate education for the girl child agree that the tradition adversely affects the girl child.
Maria Zimba, Desk Officer for Primary Education in the Mzimba North education office says through local initiatives and supported by such organisations like Unicef, several women in Mzimba and Rumphi have grouped together to explore ways of discouraging people from engaging in cultures and traditions that threaten the future of the girl child.
Says Zimba: “We are training mothers to encourage girls to come to school, remain in school and complete their education. We are also using professional women as role models, to talk to the girls on the importance of education and the badness of indulging in practices like pwelemu.”
One just prays that initiatives like Zimba narrates, flourish to all corners of Mzimba north and Rumphi villages, to save young girls who are enticed by the excitement that goes with pwelelera mwanawamama, and in the process get early pregnancies, or die of Aids.
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
