Malawi, a landlocked country in central Africa, promotes itself as ‘The Warm Heart of Africa’ through its friendly people.  Of Bantu origin, in extended families, they live in huts in small rural villages, relying on agriculture as their main source of income.

In the 1800’s, the arrival of missionaries introduced Christianity and today about eighty six percent of the population belong to the Roman Catholic Church or the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian.  With the help of missionary schools, followers acquired a reasonable command of English, the official language.

Malawi’s biggest challenge is poverty which has driven many of its citizens to look for work in neighbouring countries, sometimes with their families, and sometimes alone.

One such person is Alfred Austin Kuminga, a tailor who trained in sewing and design in Malawi and came to South Africa fifteen years ago to provide for his wife and four children at home.  Although it’s a lonely life, he finds a sense of community through local Malawian congregations in Cape Town.

From these congregations, Austin gets orders for Malawian traditional dress made from chitenje, a fabric brought by traders from Indonesia to Africa hundreds of years ago.  Chitenje fabric, thickly waxed to give it a sheen and heft, has patterns of bright colours and designs.  It’s used for skirts, sarongs, blouses, headwraps, bags, shirts, trousers and shorts.

Chitenje textile design lends itself to group affiliation, such as during political rallies to show allegiance to a particular party or leader.  But mostly it’s used to show church affiliation with different churches having specific fabric colours that display religious icons representing their church.  

Catholic congregations can choose from four alternative pattern designs in blue chitenje made of polyester or more expensive yellow cotton chitenje.  Presbyterians only use blue, and Anglicans a deeper blue.

But on Sundays, wearing their specific traditional dress at church gives a sense of identity and a sense of belonging – just like being part of their extended families at home, united by their specific fabric design.  A unity that helps sustain them through times of hardship, celebration and sorrow in a foreign land.

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