Culture and tradition are bound together, different and yet inextricably united. Culture is the present life of a people that makes them who they are as a unit. Tradition ties them to their past and shapes the present reality. They are a rich source of identity and grounding, yet for all that they are not infallibly good. Both culture and traditions need to be judged on how well they serve and build up the good if a community.
Here in Malawi there is a culture that rejoices in life and the bringing into the world of every new baby. In consequence, there are babies everywhere, tiny beautiful African babies, but some of those babies are strapped to the backs of girls who are 14 or 15 years old. The father's of these babies? Frequently unknown.
I have been told by many here that Malawians are "hot," and the girls always ready for a man. If what I am told is true, there is little fidelity and promiscuity the norm. This is the culture.
The dances and music of a culture seem to capture the identity of a people in a way that no other medium can, almost the manifestation of a people's soul. In watching the traditional dances at our school feast, I was struck by a power, unity, and energy. There were, however, some dances that seemed to reveal a problematic part of Malawian culture.
One of the traditional dances that was performed and another that was rejected at rehearsals because it was a love song with inappropriate words (it was in Yao and none of the girls who wanted to perform it knew what the words meant, but a teacher present did), have moves that imitate the sexual act. No Malawian that I have encountered has a problem with this, even when little children join in. Yet, from comments I've heard, human nature is consistant here as in the US with associating certain ways of moving with certain actions, and when women and men move certain ways certain thoughts and desires arise. To syllogize and quote a wise person, "sow a thought reap an action."
You may call me prudish and judgemental, but you cannot deny the high pregnancy rate among young girls in Malawi and the norm of single mother homes with many children by many men. In staying with a Malawian professor, she commented on her maid, "her blood is so hot; she'll go with any man." I've heard similiar comments made about village women. While some of these comments may be due to the prejudice that the educated have for the uneducated the world over, there does seem a lot of evidence to support their comments. And so last week, a form 3 girl was sent home from Our Lady, her education suspended, as she is several months pregnant.