Cleansing, Charcoal, and Chileshe

My students wrote several paragraphs to illustrate their understanding of pronouns. They used Zambian customs as a springboard for their writings.

Well, I wasn't expecting to hear what I heard. Some of it caused embarassment on my part since I am the only female in the class. In the future I think I will have to set some perameters. So you will excuse me if my retelling of two of the customs is a bit brief.


Kennedy shared his writing first with a description of the cleansing of a couple about to be married. It focuses on how a village knows whether a couple has remained pure before taking their vows. In the words of Forrest Gump, " . . . that's all I have to say about that."

Charcoal and its use to "stop up" a spirit of a cursed person after they die, was a little easier to handle and didn't cause much blushing. Apparently a person who is "cursed" has a piece of charcoal, or malasha, inserted into their hind parts upon death. In this way, they are "constipated" and the spirit cannot get out in order to enter someone else.

By far the most interesting and well-written paragraphs were told as a story by Laban. Entitled "The Rebirth of Chileshe," Laban told the story of a woman, Mary, who has a dream. Mary is nine months pregnant, and as she sleeps her deceased grandfather visits her. His name is Chileshe and during his lifetime he was a great chief. Upon waking, Mary is in a panic and troubled by her dream. What does it mean? Seeking the advice of her sister, Mary decides that this means she must name her child Chileshe, after her ancestor. When the child is twelve years old, Mary takes her son, Chileshe, back to her village. Upon arriving at the village, people bow and pay homage to the boy. Puzzled, the boy asks why they are revering him. His mother explains it is because of his name and heritage.This story of Laban's illustrates the great importance of dreams, as well as ancestors, to Zambians in rural areas.

While these practices are quite foreign to the Westerner's ears, they are deeply engrained in the African villager's consciousness. Unite this with animistic practices and these become formidable foes of Christianity. Traditions and animism carry more weight with some Zambians than the Word of God. Because of this, the need to disciple and train pastors here is crucial to the future of the Church in Africa.

To quote C.S. Lewis, "There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They [the devils] themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight." (The Screwtape Letters)