For the past few weeks, we have been seeing many zirombo (wild animals) running and dancing. But they’re not real wild animals. They are men dressed in rags and crazy clothing, often with their bodies smeared with mud and paint. This is part of Gule Wamkulu, the traditional religion of the Chewa people.

We started learning about Gule Wamkulu more than a year ago, but now that we are living in the village, this is the first time that we’ve seen it actually being practiced.

It is not easy to learn about, partly because the Gule Wamkulu people are part of a secret society called the Nyau, and partly because everyone seems to have a different understanding of what it is all about. To some, it is a venerable religious belief system. To others, it is a bunch of people who dress up in crazy outfits and run around doing things that they wouldn’t usually be allowed to do, sort of the way Halloween has developed in the United States.

Today Penny and I will be going to the funeral of a Nyau chief, so we will see and learn much today. We hope to learn better about the people among whom we are living, and to know better how we can work with them effectively.