It has been our pleasure, over the past few months, to become friends with a local woman named Judith and her family. Judith lives in a house without running water or electricity. No inside toilet. There isn't even a door on the house, just a sheet of metal covering the opening. Yet she doesn't ask for anything and always has a smile on her face and a great attitude. That makes her stand out. In this culture, unlike ours, people are very dependent on each other. Here, if you have something I need and I ask for it, you are obligated to give it to me. That makes it very hard for people to save any money. Someone always needs something. The only way to really better your circumstance is through "concrete" investments, like buildings. People will start adding on to their houses, even if they can't finish the addition, because they know if they don't use the money themselves someone else will need it. Partially built structures are everywhere. It looks like a war zone, as if the buildings have all been bombed and are in ruin. In fact, the glass is not half empty, but half full. The structures are on their way up, not down. Still, it is very different from the way I, as an American, learned to manage my resources.

To really bless someone here you cannot just give them money and think that will help. As soon as their neighbors get wind of it it will be gone. To make a difference you have to follow their rules. As I thought about Judith and what we might do for her I kept thinking...she likes to cook--to learn to make "Western: food--but she doesn't have an oven. I began to research cost effective ways to build an oven and eventually found the earthen oven. It is made from clay, sand, water and brick, all items that Judith would have, and with just a few days work could be built for next to nothing. So I started praying about it. Should we try to build her an oven? Would it be a blessing or not?

The answer: build it.

Judith was very excited about the idea of getting her own oven, although she didn't completely understand how it would work. Per the web instructions, you lay a bed of bricks, form a large sand dome (like a beehive), then cover it with a clay/sand mixture. On top of that you put a clay/sand/straw mixture to insulate the whole thing. Once partially dry you cut the door (to exact specifications) and dig out the wet sand, leaving a void inside. Then you build a fire, heat the interior, and your oven is complete. (we used directions from: here and here. Also looked at this)

So the work began. Instead of building it the "cheap" way (on the ground) we decided to raise it up and to put a shelter over it. We wanted it to survive the rainy season and last a long time. Also, by making it really solid the entire neighborhood could share it. We hoped that people would be able to bake in it and sell what they made. In addition, we invited everyone to come and help us construct the oven so that we could teach them to make their own. Theoretically, everyone in the neighborhood could afford an oven if it was built on the ground. Another plus is that the earthen oven burns wood or trash, not charcoal. Most people here cook outside over charcoal, which costs quite a bit of money to buy. With the money they save on charcoal they could buy flour and make bread to sell.

The first trip to Judith's house was to build the block foundation and the shelter. Judith's husband filled the foundation with dirt and soaked the dirt with water (to pack it tightly) in preparation for the actual oven building. That weekend we, along with another PBT family, headed out there for the actual oven construction. We drew quite a crowd! I made sure that Judith explained to all of the adults watching what we were doing and how it could benefit them. Even had directions printed in Swahili to pass out. But it was the children that really got involved. Every time we needed to mix water with sand, or dirt with sand and water every little set of hands got dirty. They giggled and splashed in the mud. It was so much fun! After about 6 hours work, the oven structure was complete.


Three days later we returned to cut the hole for the door and scoop out all the sand. Again, we had lots of little helpers. As we dug the wet sand out we dumped it into a big pile in the yard. The children were just watching us, so I asked Judith for a cup. I showed them how the wet sand could be packed and shaped and then built them a small sand castle. They were intrigued. I don't think any of them had ever done that before. Water is too precious and hard to come by to waste by pouring it over sand for the kids to play with. Judith brought more cups out and the kids raced to get them. They built walls and bridges, forts and turrets, even a sand truck. Griffin was right in the middle of it all, playing with them, even though he had to communicate mostly with gestures. It was great to see them having such fun. Before long a fire was raging in the oven and the yard was full of sand castles. Our work was complete. (click an image below to view the slideshow)


Judith plans to bake rolls in the oven and sell them while she is home on maternity leave (she delivered a baby girl on July 10th). She has also hired a teenage girl from the village to care for her daughter when she returns to work and is going to teach her how to bake in the oven so she can continue to sell baked goods even while she's working. The proceeds should be enough to pay the childcare workers salary. That is not at all typical around here. These people just don't plan too far ahead. I have a feeling Judith is going to do very well and the oven will be used a lot. Makes me smile.