Just about each house at BMC in Nalerigu has a night watchman and a small room for them to store their personal items and have shelter from the rain. The building is constructed using traditional mud moulding techniques and then given a tin roof.
Our watchman’s room was around eight years old and the walls were eroding and showing cracks. In February – dry season – we had the old one torn down and construction on the new one began.
The process can basically be broken down into two stages: building the room from mud and then roofing/plastering/pounding about six weeks later. I documented the process with both videos and photos (though I missed the plastering on the last morning because I was out in visiting a village).
You’ll see that the building is considered the men’s work but the plastering & pounding is a group effort by the women.
Our watchman’s wives called several of their friends and relatives to come and pound the floor of the new building with them. KJ, Heidi, and some volunteers also joined in the work.
Here’s the finished room. And here’s hoping it lasts another eight years!
