Mumbi (Eva in Kikuyu tradition) is our lively, loving housekeeper. She makes it possible for Lisa and me (David) to both work.
Mumbi was forced to move out of her house, so we decided to help her build a new one with a loan. The whole thing was supposed to cost under €1,000, but it's now closer to €2,000. The local tradespeople work very hard, but they usually have little interest in planning or cost estimation.
Initially, there was only a meadow with a beautiful view on the land belonging to Mumbi's mother-in-law.
There are no machines involved in this type of construction.
Everyone is helping out.
At that point, I had no idea what they were planning.
The building materials are not high-tech.
And because the pieces of sheet metal were cut from old oil or chemical drums, they first had to be cleaned with fire.
We ran out of wood, so unfortunately a tree had to be cut down.
They're finally starting on the roof. It was stressful because the rainy season has begun.
I learned a lot about culture and customs. A shed roof, for example, would have cost much less, but you can't build one because only young people build things like that before their circumcision.
A large part of the wall is made of sheet metal.
But the lower half is made of stone and concrete to protect against termites and erosion.
It's starting to look more like a house.
There's still a lot missing. Keep checking back and I'll upload new pictures.
