Big Lake
Trip Start
Jun 02, 2008
1
26
143
Trip End
Jun 09, 2009
Nkhata Bay,
Malawi
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Kachasu fine for stoning gulewamkulu
Six people from Group Village Headman Mpokonyola in Traditional Authority Katunga in Chikwawa were on Sunday fined a bottle (one litre) of locally distilled alcohol, kachasu each, after being found guilty of stoning gulewamkulu during a funeral on Saturday. The gulewamkulu local leader Edson Ndoga lodged a complaint to Mpokonyola that six people stoned the gulewamkulu on its way to bury one of the cult's members who died on Friday. Passing his judgment, Mpokonyola said gulewamkulu was a Mang'anja cult that needs to be respected. "Because you didn't respect our culture by stoning gulewamkulu, I, therefore, fine each one of you a veta (one litre) of kachasu, failing which you are going to be initiated into the cult," said Mpokonyola
Bo at the Nkhata Bay Water Treatment Plant
. The picture shows a lady handing over a bottle of the kachasu to Ndoga on behalf of a son-in-law, who was found guilty.What strikes me about this story is not so much its otherworldliness but rather the strange mixture of an old and a new culture. A mixture that has put this story on page 3 (of 24) of a national daily newspaper.
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Nkhata Bay has been a wonderful, sleepy little village on the shore of the beautiful and vast Lake Malawi. The staff of the locally-owned Kupenje Lodge have tried their absolute best to make our stay here as pleasant as possible (despite the platoons of tiny, stupid ants).
We have bought a teak Bao (African counting game) table from Gift, a local carver. David, Justin, and Blessings here at the Lodge have taught us the Malawian version of the game and we are quite hooked!
