I love all the colorful outfits that all the women have here, so I thought I would dedicate a blog post on the way women dress in Malawi. If you are curious what Malawian men wear, they basically just wear pants and a shirt, nothing horribly interesting.

(I feel awkward taking photos of random people on the streets, so most of these photos are from Google)

Step 1. Choose multipe chitenges

Chitenges are brightly colored and patterned cloth that is used for all aspects of life by women in Malawi and all over Africa. They are used as skirts, blankets, headpieces, baby sling, blankets, suitcases, and more. Many women also get elaborate outfits tailored out of chitenges. These cloths are sold at stores and stands in the market by the meter. Usually they cost around 1500 kwacha (~4 USD) for every 2 meters. You can find all sorts of patterns  including ones with the faces of political figures such as Obama and Malawian President Joyce Banda. In the US, people often give out t-shirts for political campaigns and events. Here, they give out chitenges instead. They even have a chitenge for when the Pope visited Malawi.

 

Step 2. Wear a shirt and a skirt

Any shirt and skirt will do. These are not the important components of your outfit.

Step 3. Tie a chitenge around your waist

Choose one of your chitenges and wrap it around your waist over your skirt tucking it in on one side. I found a video on Youtube.

Step 4. (Optional) Tie on a matching chitenge headpiece

Many women here wear chitenge headpieces that matches their chitenge skirt.

Step 5. Tie a baby to your back with a chitenge

Malawian women have very high fertility rates (an average of 5.98 babies per woman) so it seems to me that every other woman here has a baby on their back. Sometimes in the hospital, the babies are tied to the front and are breastfeeding while the mother is casually strolling through the hallways. I have seen it many times here, but it still amazes me everytime.

 

Notice in the photo above that almost all the babies are leaned to one side because they are peaking forward. They are always so adorable.

Step 6. Place a large item on your head 

This large item can be anything: a suitcase, a bucket of water, a collection of pots and pans, or a large bundle of firewood. Regardless of how large the item is, it seems like women here are insanely poised and balanced and are able to walk effortlessly.

 

Congratulations! You have just finished learning about how to dress like a Malawian woman. Does this seem difficult to you? It seems extremely difficult to me. I have so much respect for Malawian women and all their responsibilities of the primary caretaker at home. They not only are able to walk long distances while carrying a child and a large load on their head, they also have a lot of strength from cooking, espeically nsima (a very dense stable food that requires constant stirring), on open fires.