Workers make final touches to a house. Grass-thatched houses stay cool regardless of the weather. Photo by Edgar R Batte
The traditional hut has its place in African
heritage. There is evidence of creativity of our forefathers. Modernity
has built on this novelty and added onto the body of artwork that is
thatching of a hut.
The beauty of a hut and the coolness within irrespective of weather condition should be the reason some folks have chosen to carry the traditional housing style to modern times.
The beauty of a hut and the coolness within irrespective of weather condition should be the reason some folks have chosen to carry the traditional housing style to modern times.
Joseph
Kenyi was a boy when he was called on, alongside fellow teenagers, to
retouch huts around their home village in Gulu. They would go to the
wild and collect the grass and elders would teach them how to sort it
out, then climb up on ladders to learn how the grass was laid on roofs.
The
same tradition was taught to Innocent Ampeire in Kabale. And much as
the youngster thought of huts as housing for the poor, to his father and
grandparents who owned chunks of land to show for their wealth, a hut
was prestigious.
Today, Ampeire, a caretaker for
chimpanzees at Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary, has learnt, first
hand, the prestige in huts because over the years, contemporary trends
have been incorporated in construction of huts.
When
he came to Kampala to join high school, Kenyi got to appreciate the
value elders back home had imparted in him. Despite his age, he was
called on to supervise and help with thatching Al’s Bar in Kansanga, one
of the first facilities to adopt the traditional roofing styles in the
city.
He was a Senior One student at the time, in
1990, when the bar was constructed but the most senior supervisor on
site when it came to thatching because of his background as someone who
had been raised in a community where thatching was appreciated and
promoted.
His story is similar to fellow thatcher, Moses Wasswa Sekagya, who was inspired by observing one Andreas roof shelters at The Quality Hill in Nsambya.
His story is similar to fellow thatcher, Moses Wasswa Sekagya, who was inspired by observing one Andreas roof shelters at The Quality Hill in Nsambya.
A businessman at the time but
with a background as a hobby artist, he says he has always found his way
back to thatching as a fulfilling passion that has supported him, his
family and pushed his children in school, abroad because, despite being
seasonal, it is a commercially rewarding art or trade.
He
has his drawings of huts on art book pages to thank for what has become
his source of livelihood. Today thatching is in vogue in lodges in
national parks and other tourist destinations as a natural choice for
lodge owners who would like to offer visitors to Uganda something unique
and rooted in African tradition.
Between Wasswa and Kenyi, there is an appreciation that foreigners, wherever they hail from, come to Africa to have an experience of staying in a hut, different from their fancy iron or tiled roofs or shelters.
So the duo will give thatching their best. “It takes time and when I am thatching I make sure I work to bring out precision so that when someone looks at a grass thatched hut I have done, they can appreciate precision,” Kenyi, director of Modern African Architecture & Construction Company Limited, explains.
Wasswa says thatching is a talent that goes hand in hand with passion. He works with a team of six people, each with a unique gift when it comes to roofing. There is a carpenter whose specialty is choosing good wood to work on putting together the roof, then others who will sort the grass to make sure it is clean.
Wasswa makes sure he sources for the best grass and type.
Between Wasswa and Kenyi, there is an appreciation that foreigners, wherever they hail from, come to Africa to have an experience of staying in a hut, different from their fancy iron or tiled roofs or shelters.
So the duo will give thatching their best. “It takes time and when I am thatching I make sure I work to bring out precision so that when someone looks at a grass thatched hut I have done, they can appreciate precision,” Kenyi, director of Modern African Architecture & Construction Company Limited, explains.
Wasswa says thatching is a talent that goes hand in hand with passion. He works with a team of six people, each with a unique gift when it comes to roofing. There is a carpenter whose specialty is choosing good wood to work on putting together the roof, then others who will sort the grass to make sure it is clean.
Wasswa makes sure he sources for the best grass and type.
“Before,
there was a grass type called Obukuli that was used. It is the type
used on Quality Hill. It is got from Northern Uganda. There is another
type that is used today and one that I also use because it is stronger.
Both types are good and can withstand weather conditions of up to 30
years. One needs to know the good types of grass,” the freelance
thatcher explains.
Kenyi adds that selection of grass
aids and eases the thatching process because if grass is of bad quality
or not well-sorted to remove foreign materials like leaves, it will
weaken the roof and cause rain water to sip through or even lead to
grass falling off a roof.
When layering the grass onto
a roof, there is a tool called the metallic brush that is used. It is
made of wood and metal. It helps brush the grass to achieve the evenness
that an onlooker appreciates to a point of likening it to well combed
hair.
Up on the roof, you will see an effort made to
put on the best. In the beginning, Kenyi says they sourced grass from
Kayunga but with less to offer, they have since moved to areas like
Entebbe, Kalangala and all the way to Adjumani, Kitgum, Moyo, Nebbi,
Pakwach and in Murchison Falls National Parks that have a grass type
called Mbubu or Kalenziwe.
What differentiates the
different types of grass is breadth but averagely, they last the same
time, between 20 and 40 years before the roof can be examined to find
out if the grass needs to be replaced.
Kenyi and Wasswa say they require between 200 and 250 bunches of grass. Each costs between Shs3,000 and Shs10,000 depending on size and season.
Kenyi and Wasswa say they require between 200 and 250 bunches of grass. Each costs between Shs3,000 and Shs10,000 depending on size and season.
They
have both built private residences. Kenyi says that people used to
think that grass thatch was a thing of yester but Wasswa says that
people who have travelled and are exposed have come to appreciate
thatching as a unique option to roofing a house. They are also willing
to invest in the uniqueness.
“It is mostly people who have travelled and been exposed to unique roofing like grass thatch that will go for them,” Wasswa adds, listing some notable names in Uganda who have roofed using grass, either of their main houses of gazebos.
“It is mostly people who have travelled and been exposed to unique roofing like grass thatch that will go for them,” Wasswa adds, listing some notable names in Uganda who have roofed using grass, either of their main houses of gazebos.
He
says that an average house could require up to 400 bunches of grass
that can be acquired at about Shs6m. Comparatively, a hut of 36 to 40
square metres will require about 200 bunches of grass.
The thatcher says that grass is cheap at times but becomes expensive when it rains and roads became almost impassable, so the price shoots up. Nonetheless, they find ways of sourcing the grass and sometimes have to travel upcountry to get the best grass available.
The thatcher says that grass is cheap at times but becomes expensive when it rains and roads became almost impassable, so the price shoots up. Nonetheless, they find ways of sourcing the grass and sometimes have to travel upcountry to get the best grass available.
Kenyi says
sometimes builders will not know but technically, huts built in the
open will stand stronger because they will keep dry even it rains unlike
those located in areas that have trees or not open enough to let the
wind sweep though or sun sip through.
The two have
roofed a number of lodges and private homes and gazebos around the
country and beyond borders. Yet, their contacts are not plastered
anywhere. To get them, you will most likely, be referred most probably
by someone they have offered the construction service to.
“I do not like advertising my services because I fear I might end up getting so many clients and take on too much and end up compromising the quality of service that I offer,” Wasswa, a humble and private person, explains.
“I do not like advertising my services because I fear I might end up getting so many clients and take on too much and end up compromising the quality of service that I offer,” Wasswa, a humble and private person, explains.
He
has sheltered facilities like Gaucho Bar & Restaurant, in Entebbe,
Simba Lodge in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Primate Lodge in Kibale
Forest among others in Rwanda and Kenya. He is currently working in Lake
Mburo National Park where a new lodge is coming up.
Kenyi is putting his creativity and energies on completing some lodging facilities at Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary and has done more in national parks for example Baker’s Lodge, African Roots, Dove Nest, King Fisher to mention but a few.
Kenyi is putting his creativity and energies on completing some lodging facilities at Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary and has done more in national parks for example Baker’s Lodge, African Roots, Dove Nest, King Fisher to mention but a few.
Thatching cultural value
Leonard Watmon, an elder in Acholi, says in Acholi tradition, when a girl is to introduce her husband and their compound does not have a thatched hut, it will not take place until they build one where both parents of the bride and groom will enter to negotiate the bride price.
He says chiefs and kings are buried in graves built inside thatched huts (tombs) as a symbol of their “immortality“, to show that they still exist (kings don’t die) and they need shelter. Watmon adds that thatched houses are also considered a home for the beginners.
When boys become teenagers, they are expected to vacate their parents’ main houses and become independent, so he is expected to construct his own hut as a sign of being initiated into adulthood and responsibility.
(Alice Adikini)
Leonard Watmon, an elder in Acholi, says in Acholi tradition, when a girl is to introduce her husband and their compound does not have a thatched hut, it will not take place until they build one where both parents of the bride and groom will enter to negotiate the bride price.
He says chiefs and kings are buried in graves built inside thatched huts (tombs) as a symbol of their “immortality“, to show that they still exist (kings don’t die) and they need shelter. Watmon adds that thatched houses are also considered a home for the beginners.
When boys become teenagers, they are expected to vacate their parents’ main houses and become independent, so he is expected to construct his own hut as a sign of being initiated into adulthood and responsibility.
(Alice Adikini)
rbatte@ug.nationmedia.com
No comments :
Post a Comment