The next day nsima with pumpkin leaves, and the next day nsima with beans. One thing that might surprise you is that here they eat with their hands! When I take students to get food, I often have to teach them how to use a fork and knife for the first time. As for water, many communities have water pumps where people can go to pump water out of the ground by hand and fill buckets which they then carry back to their houses. Others will visit nearby rivers to get water, however this water is brown and dirty, making it mostly used for bathing and laundry rather than for drinking. Water taps are becoming more and more available in the big cities, but in the rural areas those pumps are used by most everyone. The water is not clean enough for me to drink, however their bodies have built up strong immune systems so for them they can drink from most everywhere. Fun fact: I have even seen students and coaches at tennis practice use the orange cones or cans of balls as cups when they don't have water bottles. They can do this because of the strong immune systems they have built up. Pretty creative if you ask me.
Now for the shelter and homes. Walls are usually made of mud or clay mixed with water and then cut into bricks which are then laid out in the sun to dry. However these are weaker than fired bricks and so it is common to see huts collapsed or other shelters abandoned over time. In bigger cities you will see more fired bricks or even concrete walls which are more sturdy. Roofs are mostly made of either straw bundled together laid over a wooden scaffold or tin/metal sheets.
