Making Bricks

I got the opportunity to help the assistant pastor of our Church make bricks yesterday. He is hoping to build a house so he can rent it out and make some Kwachas. Boy it was a lot of work; I am a little sore, but I would not have missed it for anything. To see how the family related with one another and with me; to work side by side with him was worth all the soreness. The process of making bricks includes wetting the soil and then stomping on it to get a good mix, putting the mud in the molds and then carrying the molds to a place so the sun shines on them to dry them. It is very labor intensive and dirty to say the least. We made almost 1000 bricks. The whole family helped by carrying water and sand for the molds, and cooking breakfast and lunch.
At breakfast, the assistant pastor and I sat and were served nshima mixed with sour milk. It was two huge helpings. As we ate, his wife and kids just sat in another spot and waited. They were not eating anything; we could not finish our portions so the rest was given to all the other family members. Here the men get first choice and everyone else gets the rest. It is definitely different than in the US where the women and children are first.
The children are just typical kids; they want to be where the action is. They kept coming up to me and rubbing my arm and laughing. They helped a little; played a little; sang and danced a little; and also cried a little. Over all it was a good day, really neat.