Like a Brick...House

Post written by Craig Ferri

The ladies are removing the husk from rice

The homes in the villages that we have seen are primarily single-story brick with wood-framed roofs covered by some combination of plastic, straw mat, thatching, or metal. All materials are local (within walking distance) including the brick.

A home in Liwaladzi

The local clay soil is used to make the brick. We have seen many sites where the bricks are being made, and this is most often at or near the home site. This type of brick is known as “Burnt Brick.” To begin, they make and collect mud that is packed into a wood form.

This man is making bricks using the brick box in the background to mold them.

 The molded brick is then released from the form and laid out to dry in the sun, giving the brick some level of strength, but not nearly enough to be using in home building.

Bricks drying in the sun.  The recessed area on top gives mortar a place to bond the wall. Chicken footprints are visible on some of the bricks.

Once they have enough brick that has been sun-dried, they stack it in such a way as to leave openings across the bottom; Those openings are filled with wood that they burn to kiln-dry the brick, making it hard enough to be used in the home construction.

These bricks are being burnt for an adjacent construction project.

We have been told that the government, and others, are concerned about deforestation related to the use of this type of kiln, though I can’t imagine an affordable alternative for people who barely earn what is needed to survive.

Construction begins by "hogging" out a footing using brick and mortar.  All exterior and interior walls are then built with brick.

A homesite in Liwaladzi

Often, the homes are finished with some or all of the walls being parged (inside and out) with mortar. The roof’s ridge and rafters are embedded into the brick and mortar. The floors are either dirt or concrete.

Nicer homes have a concrete finish on the exterior. Eventually this will be painted a bright color.  In the foreground is a trench that the villagers have dug for the water system piping to a neighboring tap stand.

It is common to see partially built homes and, while they look decayed and abandoned, this is a form of savings for the home owner; they build what they can while they have some money and finish as money becomes available.