After church we hopped in the truck to go and visit some people around Sakata whose houses had melted (literally) from the rain and floods of Malawi’s rainy season. The houses are made out of mud bricks, that are hardened from being in the sun, but unfortunately they simply don’t stand a chance against the torrents of water that gushed towards them.
The first house we visited, an entire half of the house gone, the resident, and older Malawian woman told us how she now had to live with her daughter. The second house, a young couple – the wife expecting – had their house collapse while they were inside sleeping! Praise the Lord no one was hurt, however, their entire backside of the house had melted away, and the roof was structurally unstable, not even safe enough to stand under. They were also forced to find other housing accommodations. Standing next to their collapsed houses, these people did not complain or cry, but simply found other solutions and carried on.
It’s shocking and amazing to watch how resilient the Malawian people are – they have no help when disasters like this come, no government aid, no temporary housing solutions, no resources to rebuild. Yet, they continue to exude joy and gratefulness. How convicted I felt of my complaining about much smaller issues.
Written by: Tessa Mills, Xavier Nursing Student
Obviously the earthen bricks need to be baked. I know this is done by savvier producers and I’m sure there are ways to find out how to do it for little money. Perhaps VIP can investigate. I’ll contact some Malawian permaculture training centers that have produced stamped earth + baked building blocks that will withstand even torrential rains and send Liz my findings.