The Many Ways to Wear a Khanga

When I was growing up, one of my favorite things to do was quilt with my Grandmother. My Grandmother’s sewing room was one of the brightest, most beautiful rooms – filled with every color of fabric imaginable. Her quilts were vibrant, filled with all colors of clothing that had carried her children and grandchildren through all of the stages of their lives. When I got to Africa, the first person I thought of was my Grandmother – in every store you can find the bright colored fabrics from Kitenges and Khangas, the traditional cloth worn here – I couldn’t help but think that it was a cruel twist of fate that my Grandmother never got to visit Africa and to select from the wide variety of shades and colors available. On the other hand, fate smiled on my Grandfather, who surely would have needed a bigger house to hold all of the fabric my Grandmother would have bought…

This piece is about Khangas…a fashion show in two stages: the first segment will be about Khangas, the second Kitenges. The two Ks of our clothing can be defined as this:

Kitenge – A bolt of fabric, many times reflecting a pattern of a repeated object or just boldly colored. Kitenges are used most often to sew into dresses, they have no saying on the bottom. (Typically 5 dollars for 3ish yards)

Khanga – a two part piece of cloth with a vibrant pattern surrounded by a border on four sides. (Typically 3.50 for 2 sheets)

Each Khanga has a unique saying, such as:
- Usinisumbue Don’t bother me
- Mungu anakupenda atakupa If God likes he will give it to you
- Maisha ni safari ndefu Life is a long journey
- Maziwa ya mama ni tamu Breast Milk is Sweet

Some of the sayings have a deep meaning, others, like the last, are ridiculous, and most of the times these are the Khangas we cherish the most.

Khangas can be used for just about anything. Once you purchase a khanga, you never, EVER, get rid of it, and thus sometimes you are forced to think up new and creative ways to get your money’s worth out of that cloth…here are a few of the more common uses for the Khanga in our village…

1. The Traditional Wrap. Khangas are most often used to protect us, as women of the south, from those men who would be so bold as to try to sneak a peak at our knee caps. Keepers of the moral code, we wrap Khangas around ankle length dresses and skirts (worn usually over tights or longer underwear) in order to warn off Don Juan.

Often – especially for us Americans – 2 layers can be a little much in the heat, but we take the discomfort over the serious repercussions of what could occur if we did not wear them: SSB – Sudden Shock Blindness. When the sunlight first kisses the shocking white of our liberated kneecaps, the reflected rays are so intense, they can burn the retinas of anyone who looks directly at them. The victim is first shocked at the bright white bony spectacle, and then blinded (suddenly). Due to the seriousness of this disease – both JB and I tend to keep our Khangas wrapped around us, no matter the discomfort, for the good of the community (and protection of the eyesight of silly curious peepers everywhere).

2. Baby Carrier/Diapers/Diaper Bag. Babies are wonderful in Tanzania, and mothers love nothing more than to parade them everywhere, but the incredible amount of sand and lack of sidewalks made strollers an impracticality. Naturally, something must be done to keep these bright eyed beauties in circulation around the community, and thus, the baby carrier, similar to a backpack, was invented.
The Khanga is simply laid over the baby, who is placed on the mothers back, then tied firmly in place right above the breast bone. The ability to swing the baby under the armpit and into the milking station is a necessity, and if there is difficulty in making the shift, you know you tied it incorrectly. For examples of correct form see models JB and Bryan above, or the two young women with their babies, who demonstrate both backpack and “easy access” positions.

3. Head Gear. Here in Makong’onda, women and men display the biceps and triceps that most people in the United States would sweat hours for in the gym (or pay thousands for in implants). We (and by we I mean the collective we who live in the village and not personally myself, I have rather pathetic looking arms that deflate like balloons when intimidated by the average Tanzanian’s arm) get these burly biceps from hoeing our fields, and since we need the strength to hoe the fields, it follows that we cannot hand carry our hoes with us. Prime backpack space is already taken up by babies, so we can’t carry them on our backs either. So where do we put these hoes, buckets, mangos, cassava, or anything else that must be carried? On our Heads! Khangas when rolled into tiny convenient balls hold just about anything, and provide comfort to the head, which we use to carry just about anything.

For examples, See Rehema, who is preparing to load her head, or the Mango ladies with my mother (who is doing an excellent demo on how to use a khanga to prevent SSB).

4. Every Piece of Clothing on a Small Child. Khangas are super easy to clean. Place in soapy water. Shake bucket (spin cycle). Place in clean water bucket and shake again (rinse cycle), hang to dry for 20 minutes. Wear. Because of the ease with which we can clean a khanga, it is no surprise that we use them for every piece of our wardrobe. It’s also no surprise that we allow our children to where them everywhere. Here, most children have exactly one nice set of clothes, one set of playclothes, and the pick of any khanga that their mother is not currently wearing. Tied behind the neck, worn like a towel across the belly, or wrapped like a toga, children have more ways to wear a khanga than anyone, due to their stature advantage and overall smallness.

For examples of child-like fashions, See JB and gang. Notice Haiba with the tied Khanga Dress. Can you count all of the different ways Khangas are used in the picture?

In short, Khangas are apart of the wonderfully colorful culture we have here in Tanzania. The versatility is amazing, the colors beautiful, their style one of a kind. No doubt when I get back to America I will bring many khangas, and with a little help from this handy-dandy guide, if you receive a khanga “zawadi”, you too can rock the khanga!