Culture has for a long time been deemed in this modern setup as antiquated and those who spin in it are generally taken as not well-informed.
This is, however, not the case as culture will always remain significant and supreme in society as everything hinges on it to progress, according to Lost History Foundation Executive Director Conleith Selenje, whose organisation has remained steadfast in its quest to bring back culture’s lost grandeur.
In 2023, Lost History Foundation kept up its resolve when it engaged in a number of doings to remind the nation of the beauty of culture and this included a libation ceremony (Nsembe Ya Makolo) which was held at Namiwawa in Blantyre.
And keeping up with its culture elevation which is under threat, Lost History Foundation on New Year returned to Namiwawa with another important ceremony – rites of passage (Kutulutsa Mwana Mu Chikuta/Kumupatsa Dzina).
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This is a ceremony or event marking an important stage in someone’s life, especially birth, initiation, marriage, and death which in this present-day is rarely practiced.
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The family of Bruno Matumbi, who is also part of Lost History Foundation, was the one which was undergoing the ceremony of naming their child with the family members from both the father and mother’s side clad in clothes that they had made s[specifically for the event..
The presence of Makewana from Msinja shrine in Lilongwe who came with an entourage that included Mswang’oma (experienced local drum player), was testimony enough that this was no average event.
Makewana is a respectable person in cultural perspective; she is a woman, who is chosen by top authorities from the shrine to look after the clans and this comes after they look at her traits such as foretelling.
The first Makewana was known as Mangazi and she was chosen by priests at Msinja. She was the mother of the wife of Kalonga and since then several Makewanas have been chosen up to the current one.
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Ahead of the rite of passage, there was a libation ceremony which was led by Makewana before another activity where the mother of the child had to undergo an advisory session on how to among others, take care of the child.
There were other activities to spice up the ceremony which included traditional dances such as Ngoma before the activity of naming the child by the mother of the father of the child was given the powers of the task.
In the course, she held the child, showed it to the gathering.
“Mwanayu miyendo ali nayo, yoyendera, mapilikanilo ali nawo womvera… (the child has legs for walking, ears for hearing) showing that he is a bouncy baby),” she said as women, who accompanied her cheered on.
The mother then went on to give the child the names, a task that was flavoured by ululations and then a song of Yemwe analera mwana ali ndi nzeru, akati lera lera… took centre stage before people came forward to present their various gifts.
There was also an activity of blessing the child which was performed by Wansembe Chamutolo from Chipembedzo Cha Makolo before a history of the child’s clan was presented.
Makewana and his entourage had to conduct another ritual where the gathering was showered with what was described as special water.
Before this ritual was conducted, it was made clear to the gathering that everyone needed to be clad in black cloth with colours like red not permissible.
“If we were at Msinja, those who are putting on red attire would not have been allowed to be part of this ritual. The colours that are permissible are black and white. These colours have a symbol,” one of the members of the entourage from Msinja said.
Selenje said culture is the only element that can unite people in the country and not politics.
“This event is all about bringing back culture to its fold and show the stages that a child is supposed to go through and these are important elements for us as black people,” he said.
Makewana was all smiles describing the event as special and that it underlined the important of culture to the nation.
“We need to walk together because we are all one as Malawians and culture is the only element that can unite us,” the woman of few words, said.
One of the women from Chipembedzo Cha Makolo said black people need to go back to their roots and start doing what “our forefathers used to do”.
She said many of the worst things that were happening now were due to the fact that people have moved away from culture and diluted it observing that marriages nowadays have lost their treasure.
A lecturer of Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Practices at Bingu School of Culture and Heritage at Malawi University of Science and Technology (Must) Patrick Juma described the event as vital.
“Those, who are passionate about culture are deemed old fashioned but Must where sciences are taught saw it pertinent to bring in culture in that education without umunthu is useless,” he said.
He said students are taught not to overlook umunthu and hailed Lost History Foundation for bringing to light the rite of passage ceremony.
“When a child is born, there are stages that he or she has to undertake and this is why culture needs to be valued,” Juma said.
He added: “Most of the people who are stealing and involved in corruption are those who are learned but that just underlines the fact that we have thrown culture away”.
Juma said embracing culture is vital and that it would help in growing the economy.
“Culture is economy. Culture and education walk together and this is why we are teaching about it at Must. In the 2063 Agenda culture is there in that we need to use it to make money. We need to be rooted in culture and use it to make money,” he said.
