Traditional huts built of local wood & thatched simply with grass from the surrounding bush
It’s an old saying, but it’s so true. Home really IS where the heart is. I’ve always said to my husband that I could make a home anywhere – as long as he & my daughter & my pets are there – I could even make a home from a tent in the bush (Which I did, actually, for several years !)
So many people here live in extremely basic houses, yet they are very happy there. Many people have no electricity or running water, have never owned a TV & don’t have simple things that we take for granted like curtains over their windows. Yet many of them are happier than people I know living in palatial homes with every single mod con you could think of. Which just goes to show – as clichéd as it sounds – that money does not buy you happiness. This I know for sure !
So many people here live in extremely basic houses, yet they are very happy there. Many people have no electricity or running water, have never owned a TV & don’t have simple things that we take for granted like curtains over their windows. Yet many of them are happier than people I know living in palatial homes with every single mod con you could think of. Which just goes to show – as clichéd as it sounds – that money does not buy you happiness. This I know for sure !
A traditional mud hut with a flat tin roof, photographed in Northern Tanzania
The world economy is in a mess. Of course it will have an effect on us here in Tanzania, too. (Most notably on our tourism industry, which is one of this country’s biggest income generators). But seeing as we live in a country where poverty abounds, where people are used to living hand-to-mouth, where many have never had cash to spare or so-called ‘luxury’ items … well, it hasn’t – yet – affected people here as it has in the rest of the world, and many people here are not sure what all the fuss is about - try explaining to a Tanzanian the horror of someone in the first world losing their home (as he has never owned one), their job (as he has never held a permanent one), their annual overseas holiday (he has never left his village, let alone the country) and he will look at you and say “But does that person still have their health ? His family ? His children ?” Then he is a rich man !
Anyway, the object of this post was to share some local Tanzanian homes with you. As you can see by the photo’s, they are all built from natural materials, gathered from the bush which surrounds them. They are – for the most part – weatherproof, snug and provide a secure shelter for the families who live in them. They are built by hand and if the family ever needs to move on, they simply leave the house as it stands, and it will eventually ‘disintegrate’ back into the bush. The floors are made from mud (although some are made only from grass), as are the walls which are held secure by interweaving the mud with pieces of wood.
Another grass rooved mud hut - very well camouflaged. Fire is always a risk in dry conditions such as these, especially where no running water is available.
Most homes have outside bomas which are areas secured by thorny branches (to form a type of boundary hedge) where the livestock are kept safe from predators at night. Small outside structures raised high off the ground are usually where the chickens are kept as night falls. The toilet is also placed outside the house – nothing more than a ‘long drop’ or deep hole in the ground, crudely blocked off with a ‘wall’ around it constructed of twigs and grass.
The people take great pride in their homes & every day the women sweep the mud floors and outside areas with bundles of twigs tied together with twine. No matter what time of the day you drive past these homes, you will see a fire burning and children playing outside … perhaps a few chickens scratching in the dirt and a scrawny dog or two, lying in the shade. If you had to stop here - even as a complete stranger - you would be offered something to drink and / or eat, you would be told “Karibu !” (“Welcome”) and even though these people have very little, they would not hesitate to give you what they had.
There is so much to learn from people like this. Sure, I may have a good education, certificates and diplomas behind me – but my knowledge is nothing – nothing compared to the life lessons I learn from people like this every day …. and I am all the more richer because of it.
The people take great pride in their homes & every day the women sweep the mud floors and outside areas with bundles of twigs tied together with twine. No matter what time of the day you drive past these homes, you will see a fire burning and children playing outside … perhaps a few chickens scratching in the dirt and a scrawny dog or two, lying in the shade. If you had to stop here - even as a complete stranger - you would be offered something to drink and / or eat, you would be told “Karibu !” (“Welcome”) and even though these people have very little, they would not hesitate to give you what they had.
There is so much to learn from people like this. Sure, I may have a good education, certificates and diplomas behind me – but my knowledge is nothing – nothing compared to the life lessons I learn from people like this every day …. and I am all the more richer because of it.
