Page 50 - Demo

TourismWWW.MSINGIAFRIKAMAGAZINE.COM | we tell the true afrikan story 50drove from the border into Uganda was made of clay bricks. I mean, every single house. No matter how small, big, or how many storeys the buildings have. It was all made of clay bricks. In my head, I was like %u201chow come I did not notice any of these brick houses in my first two visits%u201d? I even shared my surprise with my wife later when I got internet, and she was surprised that I had not noticed the buildings in our previous trips to Uganda. She wrote to me, %u201cI%u2019m surprised you didn%u2019t. Maybe you weren%u2019t interested in buildings so much then%u201d.Her response was the truth. When we visited Uganda together in 2018 and 2019, I had not fully started to appreciate the African culture and ingenuity found in the indigenous African architecture or natural building methods. Now, my mind is constantly in search of the beauty of the African people. This also speaks of the amount of change that can happen to us when we decide to shift our consciousness to a new direction.Anyway, I got off the bus at Mukono junction, found my way to the motel where I would be staying for the next few days. Three days later, I went for a walk in one of the villages around the neighborhood and found a man making clay bricks. You wouldn%u2019t believe how excited I was to see the man, and also how glad I was for the man to allow me to talk with him about his craft. I was so intrigued by what he was making that I had to ask him some questions about his work. He gave me a quick tutorial. And from what he shared with me, making clay bricks was easier and cheaper than I had thought. His process was quite simple. He allowed me to take some photos of him while he worked.According to him, the soil he was using for the clay bricks was dug from the ground right in his compound. It was right where he was working. After digging the soil and making a heap, he covered the heap with banana leaves for about three days. Why banana leaves, I have no idea. After three days, the earth is mixed with some water to create a smooth clay mix. While doing the mix, he removes stones and organic matter that may compromise the integrity of the bricks. After mixing the clay to a certain consistency, he puts big handfuls of clay in the brick Residentail house in Wanyange. Image: Samuel Phillips