3-Ethiopian Style Borana House
2-Samburu Style Borana House
1-Gari Style Borana House
The above three pictures show huts representative for the Gabra society in Northern Kenya (pic 1), for the Samburu culture in Northern Kenya (pic 2) and for Borana clans in Ethiopia (pic 3). The Borana people in Kenya are closely related to the Gabra group who are mainly camel herding but also cattle nomads and commonly found in Marsabit district. The Gabra houses are made from cloth and trees and are very easy to dismantle and move. Borana houses are made to be temporary (more in the past than now) and made from grass and slits of plants. Nowadays, many Borana build permanent houses made form mud (at least in Kenya), not only because they abandon their nomadic lives but also because these houses did not protect them from heavy rain. The Borana houses (pic 3) are in general very “sophisticated”, providing lots of interior space and also including most commonly three compartments. The bed of the head of the household is generally separated. Samburu houses are also made of sticks and cow dung and the roof differs from the Borana style. Furthermore, Samburu houses usually only accommodates one big room that is very low in heights.
Information and Photos copied from http://www.borana.net/borana.html
The above photo from the site (http://throughtheireyesafrica.typepad.com/blog/2007/09/faces-
Borana Houses
Some Borana people continue to maintain a nomadic life-style, finding forage for
their animals. Others live mainly in mud and stick houses with grass roofs.
These are the more sedentary Borana who do not travel with their animals.
Borana like to decorate things. The mud house on the left was decorated
by using different colors of MUD to build it.
