Dr. Thorold’s recommended reads

Posted on 27/03/2011 by Tim Cowley

Many thanks to Dr. Alan Thorold, currently Associate Professor of Anthropology at the Catholic University of Malawi, for informing us of other works that have not yet been listed in our online bibliography on works related to the Yawo people:

  • 1987 ‘Yao Conversion to Islam’ Cambridge Anthropology 12(2): 18-28.
  • 1993 ‘The Muslim Population in Malawi’ Al-’Ilm 13: 71-76.
  • 1993 ‘Metamorphoses of the Yao Muslims’ in Louis Brenner (ed.) Muslim Identity and Social Change in Sub-Saharan Africa, London: Hurst & Co. and Bloomington: University of Indiana Press.
  • 1995 ‘The persistence of tribe? The case of southern Malawi’, Alternation 2(2): 74-89.
  • 1997 ‘The politics of mysticism: Sufism and Yao identity in southern Malawi’ Journal of Contemporary African Studies 15(1): 107-117.
  • 2000 ‘Le rituel soufi et la construction de l’identite musulmane yao’ in Veronique Faure (ed.) Dynamiques religieuses en Afrique australe, Paris: Karthala.
  • 2000 ‘Regionalism, Tribalism and Multi-Party Democracy: the case of Malawi’ South African Journal of International Affairs 7(2): 135-139.
  • 2001 ‘Sufi and sukuti in southern Malawi’ in David Bone (ed.) Malawi’s Muslims: Historical Perspectives, Blantyre: CLAIM.
  • 2002 ‘The Yao’ in Melvin Ember and Carol Ember (eds.) Encyclopedia of World Cultures Supplement, New York: Macmillan.
  • 2005 ‘The fundamental challenge, or, rehinging the
    pendulum’ (guest editorial) Anthropology Today 21(4): 1-2.
  • Peirone, F.J. (1967) A Tribo Ajau Do Alto Niassa (Moçambique) E Alguns Aspectos Da Sua Problemática Neo-Islâmica, Lisbon.
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Wisdom of the Yawo People (Lunda lwa ŵandu ŵa Ciyawo) | audio files for download

Posted on 24/03/2011 by Tim Cowley

Ian Dicks’ book, Wisdom of the Yawo People, has a companion resource available (in 2 cds) which is excellent for those working on learning the Yawo language. He has offered some of the stories, in both English and Ciyawo, available for streaming download below. To understand best the story behind each audio recording, it will help to have a copy of the book in front of you.

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Music break: Mr. Beto of Mandimba, Mozambique sings “Ngondo”

Posted on 05/03/2011 by Tim Cowley

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Kwimba pa Chiyao

Posted on 05/03/2011 by Tim Cowley

A friend in Malawi recently purchased several hundred of these Christian song books, Kwimba pa Chiyao. If you are interested in purchasing a copy, simply leave a reply to this post. (I will keep your post private so it is not displayed on the site while putting you in touch with the seller.)

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New Facebook page

Posted on 03/02/2011 by Tim Cowley

To further increase awareness of this online community, I have created a Facebook page whereby we can get to know each other better and continue to share together what we know. Some of us are native Yawo speakers. Others are learning and want to practice. Others are simply just interested in the Yawo people or have Yawo friends.

If you are a Facebook member, come join us.

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easyBibles.com lists scripture portions

Posted on 25/12/2010 by Tim Cowley

easyBibles.com exists to:

  1. reach every person in every tongue with the message of the Bible at his/her own reading level. – Matthew 28: 19
  2. To build up teams of writers and checkers for every language.
  3. To build up the confidence and status of all nations to produce and own their own Bibles.
  4. To attract more help from existing translation agencies and Bible societies. We value their scholarship and use their Bibles.
  5. With others, to hasten the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.

They further explain that “these Bible texts are written by local people for their own language group and at different reading levels to meet the needs of that language group. We want everyone, whatever their reading level, to be able to read some of the Bible for themselves, in their own mother-tongue.”

Naturally, since you are here, you’ll want to know what is available in Ciyawo. From Mozambique comes some translations from the gospels of John and Mark. Follow this link here. (listed under the “very easy” category). Further translations (from John’s gospel) can be found here, listed under “easy”.

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Ya caatiite kudiinganigwa cilaambo

Posted on 14/12/2010 by Tim Cowley

“Ya caatiite kudiinganigwa cilaambo” is a 2004 pamphlet published in Lichinga, Mozambique. A story about the creation of the world, as taught in the Bible, this 4-page PDF is a good example of the orthography commonly used in northern Mozambique (at least at the time of its publishing).

Thanks to SIM for this contribution.

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Fort Mangochi

Posted on 22/11/2010 by Tim Cowley

Fort Mangochi is a fascinating piece of history for Malawi and the east African slave trade in general. Located within the mountains close to Namwera and Majuni in Mangochi District, a hike of only a few hours reveals a place that should be a tourist destination, yet instead sits forgotten while locals collect firewood from trees nearby and elephants occasionally roam the bush.

Online searches reveal “Zambesi Sunrise“, an interesting account that mentions the fort, while the most comprehensive work I know of revealing the history of the fort comes from P.A. Cole-King’s Mangochi: the Mountain, the People and the Fort, available from the Society of Malawi in Blantyre.

I have hiked numerous times to the fort while living for 5 years close to the fort. Each time I learned a little something new, though never got the chance to explore caves nearby where I have heard artifacts from the era can still be unearthed. A shooting range nearby, shown to me by a local guide, was littered with metal shell casings.

If you plan to visit, I recommend driving to the village of Majuni a few KM from Namwera heading towards Mangochi. There is a road that heads down to the Balakasi Forest and an estate at the end known as Skull Rock. Parking is available and usually a local guide can be hired to show you the way.

Below, I include a few photos from previous visits:

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Videos from the garden

Posted on 21/11/2010 by Tim Cowley

In 2004, in order to help my language progress further, I produced some short videos using language assistants who would explain to me the various parts of certain crops they are familiar with planting and harvesting. I have included them in the following three posts, embedded from YouTube, in order to make these available to the general public. While possibly containing numerous errors on my part, at least the Ciyawo spoken by my assistants is purely of the style used in the Mangochi District of Malawi near Namwera, bordering Mozambique’s Niassa Province.

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M’gunda wa Mbeju | Yao instructional language & culture video | Yinangwa, Mbwanda, Ntesa, ni Mbatata (part 3 of 3)

Posted on 21/11/2010 by Tim Cowley

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