VANUATU - Housing and How We Live

Free Housing! Build Local!

If you have ever wanted to build your own house, and not spend a dollar doing so, then this could be the place for you! People outside of the main towns of Luganville and Port Vila (and even some people in town) simply walk into the bush, cut down small trees, many pieces of bamboo and then take the leaves of the Natanguro tree and make a roof. Done. Sounds easy enough, huh? Luckily with families so tight and large here, someone can recruit everyone they know and have a house built in one or two days [not actually sure about that, but I'd imagine if they worked hard and didn't "spel smal" (frequently take rests - everything is on Island Time...another future blog topic) this would be attainable].

Step 1: Have friends, and don’t piss off your family.

Step 2: Ask said friends and family to help you build your dream house.

Step 3: Take the collected small trees pieces, and simply shave the bark off the straightest pieces of the Namau (local name for the tree/wood type – I have also heard “Navue”), and build the frame of the house. You can connect different pieces by cutting out a small notch of one piece, and then lay the other piece on top.

Step 4: Tie the pieces together using locally made rope from the vines of the Voja tree (I’m not entirely sure if that’s the word of the tree or the vine…plenty of things are lost in translation here). Some people use nails to make the construction go quicker, but most believe the Voja is stronger, and more importantly: it’s free.

Step 5: Take some of the bamboo pieces and shred them into long straight strips. This will form the wall sections and your main line of defense from critters, bugs, and kava-drunken neighbors. You take the strips and weave them together in some particular pattern. The color will turn from green and fresh looking to a brown and dead look as it dries, but rest assured it will stay strong for many years. Although, in reality these thin walls are full of holes and really don’t keep bugs or rats out, they help keep the wind at bay. More creative people paint their walls to make their house look nicer. Our walls are covered with calico that the previous volunteer installed.

Step 6: Roof time.  You take the straight pieces of bamboo that are left over, and make them into similar lengths, then connect to the frame of your house to make a roof structure. Tie these into place with the Voja. Extra time spent securing the roof to the frame is important for that next Category 5 Cyclone that rolls through the South Pacific. Most of the time while the men are cutting down the taemba (“timber” – name for pieces of wood: store bough/recycled 2x4s or locally sourced tree pieces), the women are preparing and weaving the natangura roof pieces. These sections are then fastened onto the roof structure. It’s commonly called a thatched roof here, and people insist they are very strong and can withstand storms and cyclones, lasting up or 10 to 15 years.

Obviously, these “kastom” (Custom) houses are not sealed completely, and anything small enough that wants to enter can. Our kastom house, shown below, has a cement foundation with 4’-5’ cement walls. We also have five window openings with screen on top, which is nice to have for privacy, but doesn’t keep the constant mosquito swarms away since there’s a 6” gap between the walls and roofs. This gap does allow for nice air movement, so our house ideally stays cooler than sealed houses.

Regarding the cement: locals cut packaged cement (I noticed yesterday a sign that said ~$10 for 18lbs of mix – don’t know how this relates to home) with crushed coral and sand from the beaches. I assume they do this in an effort to stretch the purchased cement. It works fine, it just doesn’t necessarily have the same strength as a solid concrete wall might.

A “permanent” house here, as far as I can tell, is considered a fully concrete structure, both full slab and concrete walls with a “kopa” (copper – most actually they use tin or other cheap metals) roof on top of a wooden frame. These can be completely sealed, or have a gap at the top as I mentioned above. Commonly these houses have louvered window panes, and some with protective bug screens or metal grids for security.

Most of the houses in the villages have no running water or plumbing. Rarely, a permanent house may have solar power wired into the walls neatly, and maybe a sink with piped water from a rain tank or a gravity fed pipe. The super nice houses in the village are lucky enough to have a sealed flush toilet. Aside from these luxuries, most people either have a water sealed (where you pour in water to the toilet after use and gravity forces down waste) or a long drop toilet like we use at site (see photo). These are dug into the ground anywhere from 6’-10’ deep maybe, and used until they are full, and then buried (sorry for the mental picture!). Water is retrieved from rain tanks, and brought home in buckets where it’s used for bucket baths and for washing clothes and dishes. 

Our village recently brought in a few water pipes from a natural spring higher up the mountain. It’s a pipe that currently runs 24/7 flooding some bush…prime mosquito territory. We have been assured they are working on bringing it to a reliable tap. This is cleaner water in theory, but regularly pumps out dirt and debris, and you never know if anything has contaminated the water upstream. The rain tanks are safe if they are sealed completely from bugs and critters, and from kids!

Any other specific questions on housing or living here are welcome, and I’ll try to find a valid answer. This is just my experience, and some things may be assumed, or even made up if I didn’t find a valid source! Housing here is simple, but it’s enough, and most of the time free. Just for the record, there are plenty of houses in the towns that would be comparable the nicest in the United States. 

Our host family's house/health center on Lelepa Island

Our little thatched roof house in Narango village in South Santo

Our long drop "bush" toilet

Our "swim house" - where we take bucket baths

Coral on the ground of the swim house (has since been concreted with a drain)

Our thatched roof made with natanguro leaves and bamboo (and our gymnast cat)

a neighbors custom house

The local Presbyterian church - made of solid block with a metal roof. Building is used as a safe structure during big storms

An empty concrete slab where a Disability Center is set to be built in the future (...maybe?)