The mud mixture is moulded in wooden moulds and left to dry in the sun
The moulds are basic boxes made the size of the desired bricks
Lifting the mould from the mud takes care and practice. We started to get into a routine after three or four days
The mix is critical our soil required one part termite mound to seven parts soil and a liberal sprinkling of elephant dung (very dry)
Everyone laughed when I told them about using elephant droppings but the theory is sound so what the hey?
The whole weight of the house is borne by eucalyptus gum poles brought in from Copperbelt forestries. They need serious protection from termites so I had them pretreated at the forestry
The whole structure is placed on a conventional concrete slab in which the poles are embedded
Because of the size I divided the foundation slab into a grid ignoring the wall lines as they are not bearing weight
Using a rather fancy twist on the standard iron sheet these look like tiles - or should from the air
After a little demonstration the carpenter learns how to work with this new material
Every fifth course is laid with wire brick-force and that layer of mud mortar is made with cement instead of termite mound to additonally strengthen the bonding
Once the builder was happy with the mud mix he finds the technique little different to his normal methods
