My Ichilanga Mulilo – 22nd October 2011

All smiles

Dad (Mr. Kamanga)

Mum (Mrs. Kamanga)

Ichilanga Mulilo is a tradition which must be performed before the marriage of two people can take place. After engagement, the next step is paying of the dowry and then its time for Ichilanga Umulilo (showing you the fire). The ceremony is arranged by the family of the woman to show the bridegroom the type of food which is eaten by the in-laws and also what the groom should expect the bride to cook for him when they are finally married.The other purpose is to let the groom know that whenever he decides to visit the in-laws, this is the kind of food he will also be eating.

Arrival of Racheal's family

The ladies preparing themselves with food stuffs

22^nd October 2011 marked my ichilanga mulilo where Racheal and her family prepared various kinds of food for me to eat with my close friends and family, it was held in Kitwe at 14:00hrs at the home of the Chilongoshi’s in Nkana West.

The time to show the fire - Ichilanga Mulilo

This day began on a slow note as I woke up as early as 04:30hrs to prepare for my journey from Lusaka. I travelled for over 5 hours and it was a worthwhile journey as I found people waiting for me to arrive. I received friends from Mufulira and within Kitwe to attend the same. This event was suppose to pass on the 8^th October 2011 but was postpond to 15^th October because Racheal had a funeral, it was again postponed from 15^th October to 22^nd October as my parents were working on 15^th October and so could not travel from Chingola where they are working.

Racheal's family arrive with the various kinds of food

The food was brought and we had a great feast, this function was meant to welcome me into Racheal’s family meaning that I was free now to visit the Kumwenda’s home and have a meal from there, I was being welcomed into their family. As the women brought the food passing through the door step, my heart began to bump fast as I did not anticipate to see such a crowd of women, I really enjoyed the food especially the chikanda (African polony) and the chicken that was prepared.

Racheal's aunt explains about washing hands

This event has passed and now what is remaining is our wedding day scheduled for 26^th November 2011. I am anxious as I can’t wait for this event to pass as it has really put me under a lot of pressure in terms of preparations and I always have less sleep and sometimes sleepless nights. I have been in a relationship with Racheal for over 4 years now and its time we took our relationship to greater heights. 

The various traditional food stuffs that were brought

The friends and families that were present from my side for this event were; the hosts Mr. and Mrs. Simon Chilongoshi, Mr. and Mrs. Wilson Kamanga, Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Phiri, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Sinkala, Mr. and Mrs. Mumbake Chishya (My cousin and her husband). Marron Chita, Rodrick Phiri, Bwalya Chishimba, Mwiinga Makashinyi and last but not the least my Bashi Bukombe Mr. Paul Ng’andwe. My cousin from Kalulushi Mrs. Monde Mwanza came later on after the function had finished. We failed to finish the food that was prepared for us as our stomachs got full and we still had plenty of food on the table, many of us had to carry the food that was left to our various homes.

Tasting the traditional dish with my Bashi Bukombe

I travelled back to Lusaka on Monday 24^th October 2011 around 10:35 hours and arrived in Lusaka around 15: 20 hours.

My Bashi Bukombe explains the real meaning of the washing dish and the chicken