Last Wednesday, January 30, 2019
House Construction African Style
Remember Geoffrey and the brick-making business? He showed
me and John his brick-making business, aka cinder blocks...take a look at the Cement Mason post. Geoffrey is part of the “Kundayo
Business Empire,” which is my name for it. As you know, Kundayo is the name of the
apartments where I’m staying. It’s owned by the Kundayo family and Mama Kundayo
is the force behind that success. Maso manages the apartments and Geoffrey
manages the brick/cinderblock/bed-making business. Papa Kundayo works the
hardware store part of it. I haven’t met him but I’ve heard that he exists.
Well, Geoffrey took us out to the place where Mama K is
having her “retirement cottage” built. OMG!! It’s a 5 bedroom house with a
smaller house behind it. Each bedroom
has its own bathroom. The rooms are
large with picture windows in many of them.
I was thinking that people downsize when they retire but Mama says that
she wants to be with the grandchildren.
OK, in truth, as you look at these construction photos, you’ll
have to use your imagination because only the basic structure with the bricks
and some utilities are done. Ever since I taught that pre-apprenticeship class,
I’ve been interested in construction so if you also have such an interest, take
a look. (Or scroll down to something you find more interesting.)
The house(es)
The entire house, so far, is made out of concrete. The
bricks, the beams, the ceilings, and even the outside wall is concrete. The bricks, of course, come from Geoffrey’s
brick business. I’ll just throw in the photos with an occasional comment.
Here’s the outside of the house. It’s going to be 2-stories.
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| Outside again |
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| The entrance |
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| Outside yet again |
Here are some inside shots.
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| Concrete beams |
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| A ceiling made of concrete |
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| A temporary door |
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| Electrical...whatevers |
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| Geoffrey in the kitchen |
Notice the picture window. There are lots of windows throughout the house
even
though the photos I took don’t show them.
Now let’s go around to the back of the house
Behind the big house, there’s another little house. Janet calls it the Dada house. A Dada house
is usually a small hut where the servants live.
I think that this “Dada House” will be for the grandchildren when Mama
Kundayo wants to get rid of them for awhile.
So when will this house be finished, you ask? Well, here in Tanzania,
there isn’t anything called a “mortgage” for the average citizen, so if you
want to build a house, you have to have the cash. Thus, houses are built in bits and pieces as
money becomes available. This “estate” has a long ways to go, so, as Janet
remarked, “I will be dust before it’s finished.” Probably.
The Wall
A wall is being built around the property. I was most fascinated with that. Here is how you do it.
First. Mix up some mortar.
1.
Sift the sand to get the big chunks out.
2.
Mix the sifted sand with concrete mix and water.
3.
Put it in a wheelbarrow and take it over to the
wall.
Second. Use the mortar to build a section of the wall. Start
from the end and work toward the middle.
Third. String a small rope along the top of the brick line
so you can make sure the bricks are level.
Fourth. Mortar bricks into place along the top of the wall.
Fifth. Smooth it out and finish it off. Get it ready for the
plaster finish.
Cool, huh!
Ruby Rocks
Janet discovered some rocks scattered on the side of the
house and in the back. These are special
rocks from the north of Tanzania. Rubies
are found in these rocks. The Kundayo
brothers bought a couple of truck loads, took out the ones with the good rubies
and plan to use the left-over rocks in their building projects. These rocks are
very colorful with mostly sparkly aqua and stripes of white and black. Occasionally, we saw bits of red which aren’t
exactly rubies but they are ruby wanna-be’s. I picked up several, myself.
The Shamba
After leaving the house construction site, we went to the
Kundayo Shamba. A shamba is a farm where
fruits and vegetables are grown—mostly to sell. The Kundayo Shamba doesn’t have
any crops right now because the plan is to use the land for a small development
of houses. For now it’s filled with rock piles and large holes. The view from this
place is pretty nice. The picture doesn’t
do it justice.
The Restaurant
Geoffrey’s wife has a restaurant business. Here’s the inside.
We met his wife and Geoffrey’s 2 younger sons. She was
introduced as Mama Sydney. Women are
often introduced by the name of their oldest child. In this case, the oldest
child is a teenage son named Sydney, so the mother is called Mama Sydney. (Hmmm. Since I have no children, does that
mean I’m Mama Nameless? Mama NoOne? or just No Mama?)
In the restaurant we sat and chatted for a bit. I had a Stoney which is like a ginger beer
without the alcohol. I rarely drink soft
drinks and then I realized that one of the reasons I don’t, is because they are
so full of sugar and chemicals. I think
that this Stoney wins an award for sugar and chemicals. Yes, it was soooooooo
yummy. Addictive. That’s what it’s all about, eh. Thank you Coca Cola for my
sugar high.
The Rental Businesses
Next, we went on to an area with several small
businesses. The Kundayo Business Empire
includes a couple of small spaces for rent as businesses. One of the spaces is being renovated.
The other one is a bridal shop. We went into this shop and talked to the
woman, there. Her name is Judy. We saw quite a few wedding dresses which she
said they get from all over the world…The US, China, etc. The brides can buy
the dresses, but usually they rent them. Judy said that in the future, they
plan to start making their own. Brides can bring in photos or ideas and get a
custom creation.
The Kundayo Business Empire. That was last Wednesday’s adventure.
