My Zambian Mud Hut
While living in Zambia, I lived in a 500 square foot house made of mud bricks with mud mortar. I lived in close proximity to my host family, about 5 km from the nearest road and 2 km from the nearest village. When I arrived, it was empty and depressing. In my two years living here, I heavily modified and improved it to make it feel like home.
My crown jewel, a 2500 litre plunge pool (pictured with my friend Blaise inside). After getting a gas stove and building a water tower, I decided to convert my old cooking shelter into a tub. It dramatically increased my quality of life during the sweltering summers. It could also be heated with a small wood burner for use during the cold season, but I accidentally set the grass roof on fire a few times while using it.
Towards the end of my service, my host family and I converted it into a small fish pond for fish production. It has a float valve so it can stay at a consistent level without much work.
My desk, with my trusty Smith Corona. The nearest printer was 40 km from my house, so I often used my typewriter to produce documents. My desk was also home to the fry tanks, where baby fish were raised before being introduced to the large tank.
My big fish tank. I built this 50 gallon tank out of 6mm plate glass, bathtub silicone, and 1" angle iron. I knocked a huge hole in the wall between my dining area and bedroom to accommodate it. It was used to house guppies, which we were breeding to trial methodologies for producing alternatives to kapenta (a small, expensive, and overharvested fish from the Great African Lakes) at village level.
After installing a solar system, I made lampshades and installed them all over the house. Being able to see past 6PM was a game-changer. This was my living room, with a brick "sofa" that I built. I often spent the evening reading in this room, preparing for my upcoming meetings and classes.
Another perk of solar energy was the ability to project movies for my neighbors. My friend Norm sent me a projector, I used it to play every single David Attenborough documentary, and occasionally used it to teach some classes.
Using bricks, Gmelina wood, and bamboo, I built a kitchen counter. Space was limited, so I used this area to store all my food, medicine, and cooking implements.
I had a double bed, and slept inside of a mosquito net. I kept an extra mattress under my own, to pull out for the occasional visitor. I installed skylights made of corrugated plastic to better illuminate my home, but also to be able to see the stars as I drift to sleep.
After building the tower, I made a concrete sink next to my gas stove to make dishes more convenient to clean. I mounted the stove on a "levitating" shelf. With a 20 kg LPG tank, I only had to haul it to Chipata once or twice a year.
My first purchase upon arrival was a treadle sewing machine. I used it to make all sorts of different garments, but eventually it broke and I was unable to repair it. It became my craft table for jewelry, insect pinning, and the carving of "vegetable ivory", a palm nut that is used for making nick-nacks.
After a few encounters with Giardia, Schistosomiasis, food poisoning, and a cholera outbreak, I endeavored to build a comfortable toilet. What was previously a hole in the floor became a western-style pit toilet with ventilation to eliminate the various smells.
I also plumbed in a solar-heated shower, to reduce my fuel consumption and make bathing a more pleasant experience. You can see more about my projects concerning alternatives to firewood here.
Throughout my service, I maintained a 1000 square foot garden around my house. As an experienced gardener, I thought it would be easy. It wasn't. At the beginning I was pumping and hauling hundreds of litres of water every day, while my plants were still dying of desiccation. Waves of chickens, cows, and pigs would plow through my fencing to destroy my work. Grasshoppers and mice would chew things down to the ground. Eventually, I installed an electric fence reinforced with chicken wire and had water on tap, and things became a little easier.
After finding some Mallard-type ducks in town, we built a small duck pond in my backyard. We hope to introduce them to the fish ponds we constructed for the various benefits they provide to both human and aquatic life.
With an old wheel assembly from a Toyota Corolla, I built a ceramics wheel for my front porch, filling the tire with concrete for smooth, steady spins. When my friend Emma came to visit, I put her to work making pottery on it.
Before a cell phone tower was constructed in a neighboring village, this spot under the moringa tree in my front yard was the only place where I could find reception. After the tower was built and I used it less often, it quickly transformed into a gathering spot for all the nearby children.