Visiting a Village Hut (2)

(In our last installment we started a tour of the home of a Malawi widow, living in a typical village hut. She is caring for 10 or 12 grandchildren who have lost their parents to HIV/Aids. She has no job, and her grandchildren can only find short term jobs to help supplement their livelihood.)

Roof Over-Hang Too Low

We stop on the stoop and quickly realize anyone over 5’ 10” will have to bend down to enter the house. Almost all doors in Malawi village houses are hand made, and the opening is cut out of the brick face of the house itself, in order to accommodate the size of that specific door. I am not carrying a measuring tape with me, but it seems this door is smaller than most. Add to the small door the fact that the bamboo grass, roof seems to angle down a little farther than that which is on most houses, and it all adds up poking yourself in the eye with the end of a small bamboo pole, or an especially sharp end of the thatch used for the roof. Each of us duck to enter, and upon entering through the door, we are immersed in a semi-darkened room. There are no lights on the walls, no lamps on the … well; there is no table on which to place a lamp. But, none of those matter since there is no electricity to the house, and would be no way for her to pay for it anyway. There is no way to heat this room when the nights get down to 40 to 45 degrees during the cold months. It also means we have to get used to the lack of light before we proceed further into the four rooms in the house. Looking up at the open ceiling I wonder how many critters are living up there. Mosquitoes are hovering overhead and one would wonder how many of them are able to deliver a life-threatening dose of malaria. Too, I can’t see them, but I wonder what kind of snakes may be making this woman’s home their hiding place? Mamba snakes and Mozambique Spitting cobras have been found all around her property. One can certainly conclude they are around this house, either outside or inside. A little shudder creeps up my spine. And to think, I have not even touched on the spiders and other creatures that could be lurking overhead, just waiting for nightfall to open the door to their onslaught on the unfortunate who unsuspectingly move around below them. ‘’

Room is Nearly Bare

As our eyes adjust to the lack of light we are surprised to see bare, unpainted walls, and a complete lack of furniture. The room is very bare, and that is probably the way it has always been. Just inside the door, and nearest us as we enter are what looks like two bamboo mats, which are probably the beds for 6 or 8 of the children. Near the far end of one of the mats is a single pair of tennis shoes, probably one of the gifts we have given this family because the children have sought and gained work from us since our arrival in the country. The walls are unpainted, and rough.

Beyond the mats a single bicycle seems to struggle to keep its balance by leaning against the back wall. A blue and a white bag hangs on a peg above the bicycle and six or eight other pieces of old clothes, and a single blanket, hang on pegs above the bicycle.

Where is all the Stuff?

Moving our gaze to the right and the center of the room a single set of three shelves comes into view. Several small cans and bottles seem to litter the shelves, and two pairs of shoes are hanging somehow from the shelves.  To the right are four more plastic bags. These apparently contain more of the personal possessions of the ten to twelve family members who use this room as a living room, dinning room, and bedroom. In the corner stands another single bamboo mat used for sitting and sleeping. This is apparently the other bed, and if we are correct, this means about four to six of the family members must sleep on this single mat. A few clothes are piled on the floor beside the bamboo mat.

It is enlightening just to view this single room. So much can be seen about Malawi, and the suffering of her people, in just this one single room.

We now turn to enter the next room. Surprise is awaiting us just across the threshold. Come with us.

As we step into the room it is evident this room does not have much more than the last one. Near the outside door there are two old wooden platforms laying on something near the door. Elias raises them up and smiles as we all look down on a couple of buckets of water. This will serve as their drinking water, bathing water, and water used for cooking. They have gone to a distant well, or to the river in order to obtain this water and none of it will be wasted. No one would ever think about throwing the remaining part of it out. Someone in the family has walked too far to obtain it for it to be wasted.

It is time to go back outside and see the rest of the possessions, and life style of this average African family. What we discover there will be on the next posting on this website. Join us in a few days to see what we find.