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Housing
Although everyone is poor, widows and the elderly are particularly affected as a result of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, which has pushed virtually every family below the poverty line. It is quite common to see a widow left with six children to support or a grandparent, having lost all their children, realising they have as many as fifteen granchildren to provide for. Equally it is difficult for young children, having lost their parents and often had to drop out of school, they then become a carer for a blind or disabled grandparent.
During the rainy season inadequate thatching can cause leaking roofs and the cold winter nights of June through August keeping warm is very difficult if the house is not maintained. A traditional mud hut construction can be built for £400 ($650). These are sturdy, spacious and have a concrete floor. We use local builders and thatchers and traditionally women add the mud to the walls. A double mattress can be added for an extra £30 ($50) - blankets £15 ($25)each.
The Butterfly Tree has built over 50 sturdy community houses for these vulnerable people.
Latest Happenings WITH OUR Housing Project
New homes for orphans
Mukuni AIDS orphans receive new homes
After working in temperatures reaching 35 degrees my sons, Mike and David built four homes in Mukuni Village for the elderly and widows with orphans. The senior headman selected the most deserving cases. All four houses were given to elderly people living in delapidated conditions and having to look after their grandchildren who have been orphaned through HIV/AIDS in Zanbia. As always transport is a huge issue but the guys used our 4×4 to ferry poles, mud, grasses and water, which speeded up the project.
David & Mike with a Mukuni Widow Widow with two orphans in her new home
Assisting the local builders - firstly Mike and David collected poles and grasses from the remote villages of Kamwi and Machenje, then the mud had to be dug from an area outside Mukuni and the water fetched from the nearest bore holes. Each house was built in stages, the poles were put into the ground, next the erecting of the roof poles, then the expert thatchers got to work – each house needed eighty bundles of straw.
Mike unloading grasses David carrying water
Traditionally the women add the mud to the walls, which has to be mixed with gallons of water. Ladies from the local church took part donating their earned income to the church. The final stage was to put in the floor and paint the outside of the walls. It took two days to complete each house and thanks to everyone’s generous donations and Mike and David’s hard work four families in Mukuni are now enjoying the comforts of their new homes.
The Butterfly Tree’s community houses cost £400 to build.
Houses for Mukuni
£3 appeal to house widows and orphans in Mukuni Village
My sons, Mike and David have volunteered to go to Zambia to build homes for Mukuni, but first they have to raise the funds for the materials. They will work with the local builders, in temperatures reaching 35 degrees to provide at least one home for a widow and orphans during their stay. The cost per house is £400 to build a sturdy, substantial structure with a concrete floor and they will also include the mattresses.
A dwelling in Mukuni Village
Accomodation, in remote communities such as Mukuni Village, is primitive. A mud-hut dwelling for most, three huts for the more prosperous families – one a sleeping quarter for men, the other for women and young children and one for the kitchen. Sadly there are thousands of widows and orphans who have no income to repair or build new homes. The thatching, which should be done every five years, becomes neglected causing leaks during the rainy season, holes appear creating drafts in the winter months when the temperatures drop to below 4 degrees.
Homes for Mukuni: A new house built by The Butterfly Tree
Mike and David are appealing for everyone to donate just £3, the cost of one less pint of beer on a Saturday night! All the money will be used for the project, no deductions will be made. The result - secure, spacious and comfortable accommodation for a vulnerable family, which will last for many years. To make a donation Mike has created a page, ‘The Kayes get Physcial’, on Just Giving; alternatively you can make a donation on The Butterfly Tree website.
Homes for Mukuni
The Butterfly Tree Houses
Winter in Zambia is between June and August, although the daytime temperatures can reach up to 25 degrees the nights can drop below 4 degrees. For many this is a very difficult time, with no money to repair thatched a roof, no mattress, no blanket nor warm clothes the cold nights can be unbearable. For old people with a number of ailments, sufferers of TB and HIV/AIDS in Zambia and new born babies it can be life-threatening. I have come across a number of people who are still sleeping with no shelter, open to the elements and snakes.
Homes for Mukuni: a dwelling in Mukuni Village
The Butterfly Tree’s community housing project provides substantial mud huts with a concrete floor for the most vulnerable. Using local builders a construction can be erected for just £400 and can comfortably sleep up to four people. One woman in Mukuni Village told me that when she lies down in her new home she thinks that she must be dreaming. To date we have built over 30 of these houses but need many more . This is the time of year when the grasses are ready for gathering, old roofs can be rethatched to keep the huts dry in the rainy season.
The Butterfly Tree community house
Providing a new home for a widow with young children or an elderly person who has no one to care for them can give them hope and a better chance of surving the cold winter months. A mattress at £20 and a blanket for £10 is an added bonus.
Zambia Housing Project
Just £400 to build a new home in Zambia
The Butterfly Tree has a new housing project underway. One of the most noticeable problems I spot when walking around the villages, is that despite having an abundance of land many people are living in over crowded conditions. This is due to the fact that these communities are too poor to build new homes and too many are living in one house, especially families taking in orphans due to the pandemic of HIV and AIDS in Zambia.
Photo: Angela, Cynthia and Esnat outside Cynthia’s home. Five people have to share this one house. The Butterfly Tree are helping to give this family a sustainable income
Traditionally every rural Zambian homestead should have 3 houses; sleeping quarters for both the males and the females and a kitchen. However I have visited a number of families where there is only one house and as many as six people sleeping in it!
Houses should be thatched every five years but sadly many have leaking roofs, we recently repaired a house for an elderly lady suffering from asthma, her roof was leaking and the mud walls had holes causing drafts during the cold winter months where the temperatures at night can drop to below 5 degrees.
Grasses are free to gather but it is hard to believe that the poor cannot even afford the £10 to have their roofs re thatched. We are building new homes for the needy, particularly widows and children. These will be slightly larger than the norm and will have concrete floors more suitable during the rainy season than the ones with sand bases.
Photo:The new home for Esnat and her mother a ‘gift’ from Jane Kaye-Bailey who is sponsoring the three girls.
It only costs £400 to build a new house which will accommodate at least four people comfortably. If you would like to take part contribute to our Zambia Housing Project or even care ‘to build a home’ for a family you can contact us by email or make an on line donation.