The Versatile Chitenge

BY AWAKE! CORRESPONDENT IN NAMIBIA

THE chitenge—do you know what it is? If you can spare some time, come on a short trip to an African village and see the versatile chitenge at work and at play.

The village we are visiting is Rundu, Namibia. Our first stop is the bustling marketplace. Women with shining faces bargain, buy, sell, or just stop to chat. But look a little closer, and you will notice that almost all of them are wearing a distinctive item of clothing, a wraparound skirt known as a chitenge.

The cotton chitenge is six and a half feet [2 m] long and five feet [1.5 m] wide and sports a limitless variety of color and design. Some are decorated with pictures of animals, and others, with people or landscapes.

Next, we visit some of the villagers at their neatly made mud and thatch homes. The women are busy with their chores—raking the sand in front of their home or preparing the fire for the family meal. Some are wearing only a chitenge, this time pulled up high and wrapped over the chest as a sort of dressing gown. When the women get dressed—perhaps putting on a blouse and a skirt—they will wrap a chitenge around their hips to keep their skirt from getting dirty when they are walking the dusty village roads.

Did you notice that attractive young woman? She has woven a chitenge—all six and a half feet [2 m] of it—into an intricate and pretty turban. And notice how she is carrying her baby. She has tied another chitenge as a sling and wears it over one shoulder. Her baby is quite happy to be carried this way on Mother’s back. If he starts to cry, she simply pulls the sling in front of her and breast-feeds or comforts him while she continues walking.

You may also have seen her knot her money into a corner of her wraparound skirt—a convenient purse. After making her purchases, she unties a spare chitenge, puts the vegetables in it, expertly ties them in the material, and places the grocery bag on her head to carry it home.

When she enters her home, you will observe other ingenious uses for this versatile cloth. In front of each doorway hangs a brightly colored chitenge. As you can see, there are no interior walls. A length of string is tied from one end of the dwelling to the other, and four chitenges are hung from it, dividing the living area from the bedroom.

Our hostess puts down her vegetables and realizes that she is out of firewood. Before she goes into the bush to collect a bundle of wood, she makes sure she has an extra chitenge with her. After collecting the firewood, she uses one chitenge to tie all the pieces together. Then she takes another chitenge and weaves it tightly into a thick, doughnut-shaped ring, which she places on her head. This serves as an excellent cushion when she puts the large bundle of wood on her head and carries it home.

Once our friend has her food simmering, she decides she has time to pay her next-door neighbors a short visit. While she is talking and gesturing, she lays her chitenge on the ground like a blanket and places her baby on it. He rewards his mother with a bright smile as she gives him a stick to play with.

All too soon our friend has to leave to check on the food. But the sky has darkened, and suddenly it starts to rain. Unconcerned, she takes her baby in one arm and resourcefully drapes the chitenge over her head. With her instant umbrella over them, she heads home to check on the food.

Skirt, dressing gown, purse, grocery bag, cushion, blanket, umbrella, child-carrier, turban—the uses for the chitenge seem limitless and are a testimony to the ingenuity of these African people.

[Pictures on page 23]

The “chitenge” has many uses: as a wrapping for firewood, a sling to hold the baby, a pretty turban, a colorful blanket