I forgot to mention in my last post that house construction is almost always done in the dry season (December-April). (You may have noticed how brown and dry things are in the pictures.)
One tool that the women use in thatching is a flat wooden mallet.
The woman on the left is using a mallet to tap and even up the ends of the bundles that have been attached.
Another use of the mallet is to tighten up the rows of branches so that they are securely fixed to the roof frame below. That is what the woman in the video below is doing.
As the thatching goes higher, the women have to work from up on the thatch itself. They use a very basic ladder with one rung to get up onto the roof.
One tool that the women use in thatching is a flat wooden mallet.
The woman on the left is using a mallet to tap and even up the ends of the bundles that have been attached.
Another use of the mallet is to tighten up the rows of branches so that they are securely fixed to the roof frame below. That is what the woman in the video below is doing.
As the thatching goes higher, the women have to work from up on the thatch itself. They use a very basic ladder with one rung to get up onto the roof.
They support themselves on the roof by kneeling with their toes resting on a row of branches.
When they're up on the roof like that, the women have their supplies (rope, grass bundles, sticks) delivered by a helper. That saves them having to come down and get them.
The video below shows the thatching bee and a woman bringing bundles over from a storage rack to the thatching site. It then also shows the two women on the roof in the photos above and bundles and rope being handed up to them.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete