12-23-08: What is your house made of?

We were driving back from Tsavo East; a large National Park in Kenya noticing the beautiful, simple construction of the mud and wattle homes in the villages along the way. They were the poorest of accommodations but still inviting. The small country villages along the back roads were bucolic, and small groups of children stood along the road waving and smiling. I have read that country life is getting harder and harder for Kenyan farmers and herders, Clean water and fuel, which used to be available, are becoming more difficult to find and expensive to buy. We passed water stations where a ten-liter bottle (the most a woman could comfortably balance on her head) cost five shillings, a significant amount for people whose livelihood is not necessarily cash based. Despite their hard life, these people seemed genuinely happy, well fed, and smartly dressed.

Looking at these homes, Dolma was reminded of a conversation we had when she was visiting San Francisco from Deli more than 10 years ago. She had just moved into the CNN bureau house and was filling me in on her life there. She recalled me asking, “What is your house made of?” I was still working as a planner for Santa Clara County and the question seemed to me an important one: What is the climate is like? What resources are available? … A hint at a culture through its architecture. She recalled being offended by the question and surprised at my ignorance: did I think she was living in a mud and wattle hut? To her the question was about class, lifestyle and prestige. I had never thought about it that way from my limited Californian perspective. Is your house made of marble, stone, brick, wood, corrugated metal and torn plastic tarps? Do you pull a piece of cardboard over you every night? I guess it only makes a difference at the lower end of the continuum.

But I can’t think that the happy children along the road thought too much about it.