Arts and culture in the form of food, language, dressing, traditional dances and other practices were on song during an event dubbed Anyanja Cultural Festival held at Matambala Ground, Likangala, in Zomba on Saturday.
Held under the theme ‘Explore The World by Embracing Our Culture’, the event lived up to its billing.
People had time to enjoy traditional dances such as Chisamba, Chabulika and Gule Wamkulu, which was performed by Chewas who married in the area.
Apart from traditional dances, people were treated to poems and folktales.
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Some of the foods that were displayed at the festival included beans, rice, thendo, kalongonda and nsima.
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Speaking at the event, Village Headman Makwinja from Group Village Makawa, Traditional Authority Mwambo, said the event was timely.
“Our tribe is comprised of Alhomwe and Mang’anja people and we are associated with fishing activities. We love staying along the lake at places like these. This is why you have found us here, along Lake Chilwa,” he said.
He said the event also gave them an opportunity to interact and learn from each other through performances.
The event was organised by Art and Global Health Centre (ArtGlo) in conjunction with Catholic Development Commission in Malawi (Cadecom) with support from Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF).
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ArtGlo Gender Justice Officer, Esther Harawa, said, under one of their projects, the organisation discovered that people in the areas of group Village Headman Mbalu and Makawa in Zomba are heavily affected by the effects of climate change.
“One of our researches under a project titled ‘Loss And Damage’ revealed that this happens because of culture and, so, people end up neglecting the issue of environmental preservation.
“As such, through this festival, we wanted to alert them and sensitise them to the importance of preserving culture and the environment,” Harawa said.
She said the two aspects move together, hence utilising the platform of the festival to bring to light issues of climate change.
Cadecom Programmes Manager for Zomba Diocese, Patricia Mauya, said culture is key to environmental preservation.
