Making Bricks

The cold season, between harvest and planting time, is the time to make bricks. My village, Lipunga, has decided to build a health center. A man from the village who is now well off and a politician has found funding sources to build the building. The community contribution is to mold the bricks and everyone knows how to do it.


Since this is a community project a piece of customary land is used to make the bricks. The first step is to clear the area of trees and brush.


The soil here is a mixture of sand and clay which makes good bricks. The men start digging with their khasus.


Then the women bring water which they pour on the loosened soil.


This makes the mud to mold the bricks.


Wooden forms are filled with the mud.


And dumped out on the ground.


Here are a bunch of bricks from another site.


Finally the bricks are stacked into piles with tunnels underneath and covered with mud. Then trees are cut and logs burned in the tunnels for a day to fire the whole pile of bricks. The pile is taken apart and used to build.