First: A note about the title of my blog, and a preview, I guess, of how I will be posting stories. I went to architecture school (Texas Tech) and, like many architecture students, got pretty burnt out during the process and decided for many reasons to do something different when I graduated than sit at a drawing board for the rest of my life - which is exactly what I felt would happen at the time if I didn't do something drastic. After exploring the Peace Corps and a few other options, a friend suggested I look into this relatively new organization called Habitat For Humanity, and gave me Millard Fuller's book, "Bokotala" about how he and his wife Linda started the organization in Mbandaka, Zaire (now the Congo). That book captivated me, and made me realize that building houses with Habitat would be a better and more relevant use of my architectural education than what the Peace Corps had to offer, so I applied, and was accepted to go overseas as an international volunteer. Habitat decided to send me to start their first project in Zambia, on an isolated island in the Kafue River Flats called Kabuyu Island.
Kids playing football on Kabuyu Island
As I write this blog I am sure I will spend a lot of time talking about what Habitat does and how they work, so I will not go into that now, but the title refers to one of the first houses we built on Kabuyu Island for a Man named Mr. Phiri. I am sure he had a first name, but he was older and a respected member of the community, and I didn't dare call him anything other than Mr. Phiri. As one of the elders on the island, he was on our Habitat committee, and because the project was new, I was young, and most of the people on this island had relocated there from other parts of the country where they had experienced difficulties, the people on the island were very skeptical of me and the whole program. Mr. Phiri was chosen to get one of the first houses not necessarily as an honor, but more as a guinea pig, or so it seemed to me. As the house progressed, I came to admire how hard Mr. Phiri worked, and as he saw that we were really building him a concrete block house to replace his grass walled and grass roofed hut, I began to be amazed at his joy and enthusiasm for the work that we were doing. The day I remember most was the day we finished - this man was so overjoyed that he completely lost his reserve and started to tell me and the two young guys that were working with me about how as soon as we packed our tools and left he was going to grab his wife and "initiate" each of the three rooms in the house to celebrate it's completion! It was a very funny moment, but now, after about 26 years of building, and mainly designing hundreds of homes for clients, I still recall it as the most joyful, most happy and satisfied reaction to getting a new house that I have ever seen.
Not Mr. Phiri's house, but the same design.
And of course - I got such a kick out of seeing how happy Mr. Phiri and his family were in finally having a permanent home. The enjoyment at playing even a small part in helping to transform peoples lives - that's one of the reasons I am going back to Africa to work for Habitat full time. I have quite a few other reasons that I am sure I will get to sooner or later, but this was a major one....
Please comment, ask questions, talk back. Don't make me do all the work - especially those of you who were pushing me to do this!
alright bill....i'll comment....as a fresh out of school architecture student...why is the window not centered? by the way...the house is awesome!
ReplyDeleteGreat start Bill. Do we have the rights to this plan? I expect a rendering by Monday!
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