The Three Little Pigs

This post is dedicated to my incredibly awesome, award-winning builder, son-in-law James. 

I loved to read as a child and The Three Little Pigs intrigued me...along with my other favorites:  Little Red Riding Hood,  Billy Goats Gruff and The Gingerbread Boy.  I remember actually giving thought to which little pig I would have been; would I have built my house with straw, sticks or bricks?  It's been interesting to actually see houses built of all three here and people actually living in them!

To build a house of straw, grass or woven palm leaves; you must begin with a lashed frame of sticks or bamboo.  But these builders are smarter than the pigglets because the posts are buried in the ground; the wolf will have a harder time blowing these houses away...I guess until the posts rot.

The grass roof actually lasts quite a while and is used on stick homes as well.  Locals say they stay pretty dry even through the rainy season.





Locals sleep, and are sheltered from the rain inside the house; but the kitchen, the bathroom and the rest of the living is found outside.  Pavillions like this provide the much needed shade for the outdoor living!  

The stick home begins with a woven frame of sticks or bamboo.  Mud is then applied to fill in the walls.  Why they don't just melt in the rain?  A local told me that the rain comes down so hard that it usually just runs off - but they do melt if it's a slow drizzling rain.  You see a lot of heaps of mud where a house used to be; or maybe the wolf spit when he blew?...I hate that!

Obviously, there is no electricity, water or sewer plumbed in grass or stick houses.  One of my favorite things to see at Alice's house is a blob of melted wax on her worn, wooden table from the candle burning the night before.  She usually scrapes it off while we talk.  Most villages have community wells and water is carried on head like this.  Other bathroom functions are also performed outside. Use your imagination.       

This is another example of what I would consider a stick house.  Mostly plywood and half the size of a good shed.  You probably can't read the sign on the fascia:  "Joy Modern Fashion Home"  It must be a store that sells modern home accessories I guess; it wasn't opened when I took the picture (which is why I took this one - I'm chicken!)

Some stick houses have a stucco exterior.  The erosion finds its way under at the bottom and it flakes off; just like the old western or mexican movie sets!  There are a lot of metal roofs with bricks to hold them down.  Shutters are typical for the window; with no glass.

It seems every yard has a pile of sand in it.  Cement is mixed on location to make bricks (usually just a few at a time).  Bricks are stacked until a sufficient number are acquired, money saved for the construction to be completed and permits obtained.  Sometimes you see bricks that have been stacked for years and have already begun to decay, the work may never get done.

The brick house is one I'd go for if I were the pigglet.  Here is real protection that draws family and friends to happy living.  (It wouldn't have ANYTHING to do with electricity, water and sewer :)  Utilities are not hiddin in the walls, everything is conduit and visible.  Floor plans also seem to be an after thought!  Electricity is provided with a pre-paid meter.  It is pretty inconsistent and blows up a lot of appliances.  Regulators help to prevent the refrigerator from getting "spoiled" (broken).  Upscale establishments and homes have back-up generators.  Seriously...only 1" pipes supply water to a neighborhood and are only buried 2" below surface.  Many times we've seen broken pipes sticking up in the road creating mud.  Then someone shoves a sugar cane in the pipe to plug it up until it is fixed...a few days later.  Huge poly tanks are installed for the wealthy where water is spotty or where no city water is available.  Trucks deliver the water to the tank.  Water is very expensive and not potable.  We drink only triple filtered bottled water.  The toilets are a 5 gallon flush...twice!  Small water heaters are installed above the shower and above the kitchen sink.  I guess you'd call the cement tank in the ground next to the house the septic; and the open ditch system the drain field.      

Here is some interesting architecture.  Steps are never the same size!



 

Nearly all brick or cement houses are multi-family rentals.  A lot of them are built in a circle with the center open which is where the community well and community washroom is located.  Here neighbors are cooking; pounding Fufu.  Rent is almost always paid at least 2 years in advance.  If you're looking for a place, use the grapevine...there are few if any real estate agents here.  

I think this is the Africa version of a tilt up concrete building.  Bamboo poles hold up the forms and weight of the concrete.  I haven't seen any cement trucks; it is mixed by hand and carried by bucket up the ladder to pour.  Rebar is tied and used for posts - hopefully it is engineered?  

This is the apartment building at the top of what we named Denny Hill (after the horse on Man From Snowy River) because it is straight up.  It is located on our daily walking route.

Now the most amazing thing about it is, that you'd never know which guy on the street lived in the straw, stick or brick house.  I've seen dazzling white shirts and ties emerge from the jungle.  People here seem to be happy no matter what their living circumstance!  I admire that.  The End.