More than a home
Water
We install a rainwater collection system at our home build sites, to provide water for cooking, cleaning, and – via a home filter station – water for drinking. The system is comprised of a 5,000 litre storage tank, fed by downpipes from guttering. The system incorporates a simple first flush mechanism which takes the first run-off from the gutters and diverts it away from the storage tank, to avoid debris and contaminants reaching the tank. Water is drawn off via a separate stand tap, which is fed from the tank via a buried poly pipe. The tank itself has an isolation valve, located behind a lockable hatch, which allows the home owner to turn off the water from the tank to the stand tap. The tank is set within a brick and rendered housing for its lower half, to avoid damage and limit unnecessary interaction. We us the local water authority for our installations, which are generally completed in a day or two.
Solar
A simple and robust solar power installation is essential for our home builds. Reliable lighting and power is invaluable, particularly in respect of enabling evenings to be more productive. A small solar power installation enables families to no longer need to the use kerosene lamps, which are not only dangerous and unhealthy, but quite expensive due to the ever rising cost of fuel. Our solar installation is sufficient enough for six light fittings, being one for each room, and two externally at the front and back door; it also allows for two or three electrical sockets in the home. Uganda’s climate guarantees consistent hours of direct sunlight, even in the rainy season it is rare to have a day go by with no sun light at all. Like most of our facilities, the solar installation does require period maintenance, which our home build partners are guided through and advised upon during familiarisation with their new home.
Oven
Traditionally the home kitchen is is a small separate building, with a vented rear wall and roof, to allow a draw to carry smoke out of the room. It is still fairly common for people to cook using the traditional method of three large rocks, to take a pan, under which an open fire is lit. In our home kitchen buildings we install a smokeless oven, which is comprised of three cooking chambers, each to take a specific sized cooking vessel. The stove itself uses far less firewood as it burns more efficiently, plus there is significantly reduced risk of injury due to not working over an open fire. There is also significant health benefits as the oven has a flue system that takes the majority of the smoke out of the building. What little smoke may not be drawn out via the flue is dissipated via the usual vented wall and roof, which we maintain as a feature of the building in place for that purpose.
Fitments
The families we work with often come from accommodation where there has been neither the space nor appropriate environment to have much in the way of furnishings. We provide some well made basic furniture, such as adult and children’s beds, a table, and benches. We also supply new mattresses for any beds as it is more usual for families we work with to previously have been sleeping on the ground, on woven grass matting. Our furniture is made by local carpenters, which, like much of the home build work, is helping the local economy in a small way. Where a family member has any specific need we have previously helped with additional furniture items, such as a more comfortable seating option for an elderly relative in full-time care of the family.
Utensils
There’s so much we take for granted, even down to such small things as a plate to eat off and a cup to drink from. We provide our home build partners with a variety of homeware items to help make life simpler from the day they move in. Items such as plates, cups, cutlery, basins, jerry cans, bedding, pillows, mosquito nets, storage trunks, farming tools, etc. Non of these are luxury items, they are all things necessary for day to day life but quite often not items that our build partners will have. We also help with a supply of some basic household provisions to begin life in their new home, again basic items such as soap, salt, sugar, and flour. From the first day in their new home, having basic household items and provisions available allows families a chance to adjust to their new circumstance.