day’s end and treasures from Malawi

The sun has travelled across the sky in a blaze of glory today, largely free of cloud; a golden jewel on a blue ground. In the garden the autumn flowers are blooming, sunset shades of pink, orange,lavender, lilac. The sunset of the year is just beginning.

In the basket are sunset coloured fabrics, brought back from Malawi by my son’s girlfriend, where she worked all summer. These gorgeous cloths are working cloths. They are chitenje-the all purpose 2 metre cloth used by Malawi women for everything. They are worn over skirts as a sarong, alone as a sarong, used to carry children on a mother’s back, to carry shopping, wood, baskets of anything on a head, wrapping the goods and acting as a pad , as headwraps and  when too old for any of these or a myriad of other functions, used as wash cloths for bathing children and cleaning cloths. It is said a Malawi woman never leaves home without a chitenje. Truly a woman’s cloth. The patterns and colours are gorgeous. More to follow.

I can find only one informative reference about chitenje here. If anyone knows of others, please let me know.