Housing in Malawi ranges from traditional thatched huts to elaborate multi-roomed dwellings with running water and satellite television. Many villages, of course, don’t have electricity or running water; in the majority of the country you are most likely to see houses of unbaked brick and thatched roofs, alternating with square, baked-brick homes with a roof of metal sheeting. Huts are usually square, though some are circular in shape, and have mud floors. The floors, verandah, and walls are mudded frequently to prevent cracking and to give the house a smart appearance—some women even apply decoration to the outside of their homes with various colors of river clay. The fired brick houses usually have a concrete floor and tin roof, but may have a grass-thatched roof reinforced with sheets of plastic. Sometimes stucco is applied to the brick walls, both inside and outside, and painted. A common color scheme calls for a dark color on the bottom half of the wall, and whitewash on the top half.

In the cities, of course, houses are more like what we are accustomed to seeing in the States. But most houses, regardless of their size, will have a fenced yard and a garden. The Malawian economy is still largely subsistence-based, and even Malawians who derive their income from non-agricultural means are dependant, at least in part, on the food they grow. Thus, gardens are very important to Malawians, and those people who live in cities and do not have a sizeable garden at their own house will return frequently to their family home to plant and harvest the land they inherited through their parents.

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