Remember, brick, that thou art dirt, and to dirt thou shalt return.

Rwanda has the most amazing weather: it’s in the high 70’s and low 80’s all year round. We are very near the equator, so the sun has risen by 6am and set by 6pm. There are two rainy seasons—the major one from March to May, and the minor from mid- September to November, and two corresponding dry seasons, major from June to mid- September and minor, from December to February . The farmers count on this and plant accordingly. The problem is… it isn’t true! Whites say knowingly “global warming” but a wise older Rwandan told me “it’s been happening for twenty years… it started with the itsembabwoko n’ itsembatsemba”. Building a house in August and early September seemed like a good idea, at least until this year’s torrential rains in the first week of September. We were fortunate—all our blocks were up and the roof was on before the rains began.  Claude’s neighbor was not so lucky:  he hadn’t started construction in time and the blocks began to disintegrate. It’s not a big worry; they can simply be recycled into new blocks during the next dry season.

Roll your mouse over pictures to see captions, double click to  see slide show.

We bought “trees” to build the roof.

A special crew assembles the trusses

Machete, the only tool

Roofers making rafters

The finished roof

Meantime the interior is mortared

The view from the front

Meredith and Chris’ roof in Stebbing

Weeks two and three bring amazing results. Just like in the USA, specialized subcontractors are used. The two roofers worked alone, converting $125 worth of trees into the rafters supporting the metal roof. There are three kinds of roofs in village construction:  thatched roofs like Meredith’s home in England, fired clay tiles for the wealthy and metal roofs for everyone else. The metal comes in plain steel, painted steel or painted, stamped steel made to look like exaggerated shingles (my favorite). Thatch was wisely outlawed because of its fire hazard (I’ve yet to see a fire truck). The next step is to cover the blocks with mud stucco, a line of defense against the rains.  For many this is where it ends, a tin roof, mud stucco walls and a dirt floor. Not for Claude’s mother!

The front and one side done

The dirt, sand and cement

Can you see the Easter Island head?

The “export only” cement

Behind the porter the first stucco goes up

The finish is pale white, we will paint

A mixture of dirt, sand and cement is used to coat the walls giving a smooth, waterproof  finish that will double the life expectancy of the house, some say up to 50 years. The third week ends with the used windows re-glazed and painted bright green to match the recycled heavy duty front door. Behind the house a 15′ deep pit toilet was dug and a combination (3 separate rooms) toilet, bathroom and kitchen. Water is drawn from the Stream at the bottom of the hill that supplies the rice patties. It is where the neighbors congregate to do their laundry. The  light weight plastic jerrycan makes it possible for the children to fetch the water.