In many areas of the states, we have Sun Rooms. A place for relaxing, just thinking, or escaping from the problems of the day. A sun room is an additional or add-on to the regular home. Some people call them parlors.
In rural Congo, they have Shade Rooms. They have a similar purpose to our sun rooms. The shade room is optional, too. Most of the poor rural families do not have a shade room.
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Most rural Congolese live within a family compound. The compound is a plot of land where family members build adjoining houses.
This type of communal living is ideal for raising families. Families share children-watching duties since parents may be miles away from the living houses for extended periods of time. During planting and harvesting, many families may stay out at the bush farms to save time and unnecessary walking.
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When we buy a new car, it's a newer or upgraded model. You can't buy a new 1985 Ford Mustang. In spite of your desire, you can only buy a new 2010 Ford Mustang. But the newer model has more safety advances. It is less polluting. So it is better.
Houses are different. If you want a 1790's home, you can build yourself a 1790's home. You can decide whether you want electricity, running water, and indoor plumbing. It's a choice because you have money, the skills and materials are available.
In Congo, poverty keeps people in a different time zone. But if you have money, you can make the time shift. For example, you can build a house with tin roof instead of roof made from palm fronds.
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Banseuba is located in central Congo bush. The village of Banseuba is not your typical poor village. They have an upper class neighborhood. It is old Bulape Presbyterian Mission Station. Most of its houses and hospital buildings were built in the 1950's. They were built by the Presbyterian missionaries. Today, there are no missionaries but the aging buildings are still there.
Most Congolese throughout the central region may not have heard of Banseuba. However, most people will have heard of the Bulape and its hospital.
The buildings are brick with tin roofs and have concrete floor. They have doors and windows. The windows may not have window panes. Also, the tin roof has holes and leaks.
The building have built-in like facilities for electricity, water, and sanitation. However, there is no electricity or running water. The septic systems generally works.
The people living on station are high ranking employees of the hospital. Also, they may be students attending the nursing school or pastoral institute.
That's a rural upper class neighborhood.
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It takes patience and dirty hands to build a mud and stick wall for a rural Congolese house. The work can be done by women or men.
Strips of bamboo are tied to the supporting poles of the wall. The strips are put on both sides of the support poles to create a slotted wall. Then it's play time.
You make mud and press it into mud balls. The balls are put in between the slotted bamboo walls. The mud fills the wall to give it a solid appearance.
The mud and stick walls work well for a while. Then, the sticks rot away or the mud wash away, or both. Then the walls come tumbling down.
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The poles look like giant "pixie sticks". But they are building materials. They are the sticks in the 'mud and stick' building construction used in rural Congo. This method is used to build houses and classrooms.
Congolese men cut small trees for support beams. Typically, the roof is built upon the stick supports. Here, the roof survived a wind storm but the stick and mud walls were destroyed.
Stronger walls are needed. Either more sticks (small trees) are required. Or the real solution is milled lumber from bigger trees.
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Even in Congo, there are signs of prosperity, too. One of the signs is visible in the homes built.
In rural Congolese village, you can see some houses are built better than others. Some houses are larger. Some houses have a separate cooking room. Some houses have two doors. Some houses have a brick veneer. Some houses have a tin roof.
It's still true in extremely poor conditions, a man's house is his castle. One day, his castle may have running water and electricity.
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Most houses and buildings required maintenance. Everything is not maintenance-free, yet. In Congo, houses and buildings require more periodic maintenance.
The roofs are made from palm fronds. At first, the fronds are green. And they are water-restraint. Over a few months, the fronds turn brown. They dry out and fall apart in the sun and rain. They have to be replaced frequently. Otherwise, the roof leaks.
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From the outside or the inside, you can not tell how the building was constructed. Yesterday, I disclosed what the building looked in the beginning stage. I said the walls were optional.
The outside walls of the building look great and professional. And the inside walls look equally impressive.
Now, I changed my mind, the walls are complementary.
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How do you build a stick-and-mud house in the rural Congo? What are the processes of construction?
At this point, I would say different. I might even say it is the opposite of our building practices in the US. First, posts are placed to support the roof. Next, the roof is completed. Then, the walls are completed. Finally, the floor is completed.
Typically, we start with the floor or foundation. Next, the walls and supports are completed. Then, the roof is completed.
The walls are accessories to the building. They are optional.
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