Chewa

Southern Africa

The Chewa are the largest of Malawi’s Maravi peoples, whose ancestors migrated from the Katanga region of what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo in the 15th and 16th centuries. They built the Maravi Empire, which at its 17th-century peak controlled much of present-day Malawi, eastern Zambia, and Mozambique, and successfully resisted Portuguese encroachment.

Did you know?

Chewa boys are traditionally initiated into Nyau, a masked secret society whose members perform Gule Wamkulu ('the great dance'), recognized by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

Proverbs (3)

Your neighbour's misfortune today may be yours tomorrow.

Misfortune doesn't announce whose turn is next, which is exactly why this proverb asks you to treat a neighbor's hardship as a preview, not someone else's separate problem. Helping them today is really just recognizing what could just as easily happen to you.

Two crooks cannot cut each other's hair.

Cutting hair takes trust: you have to hold still for someone with a blade near your head. Two people who each know the other is dishonest can never relax enough for that, so this proverb uses the image to explain why dishonesty isolates people even from each other.

A child of your friend is your child; if you take care of him or her, you will profit.

Care given to a friend's child, this proverb argues, isn't charity with no return: it's an investment in a relationship that circles back, the same way your own child's wellbeing eventually reflects on you. It treats communal child-rearing as ordinary reciprocity, not extraordinary generosity.

Names (4)

First names

Chifundo

Chichewa for "mercy".

Chikondi

Chichewa for "love".

Chiyembekezo

Chichewa for "hope".

Dalitso

Chichewa for "blessing".

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