John Harris took the photographs when he was a high school science teacher in Kabwe, Zambia. Like all other expatriates, his family employed a house servant to help with cleaning, cooking and looking after three children. He would be forever known as Thomas. Thomas Tembo, then in his fifties was married to the much younger Mary, still in her late twenties. The couple had a six year-old boy, Peter. Shortly after Thomas had been hired, John Harris learnt that his house servant had to walk eight miles to get to work each day—a total of sixteen miles. Although a delightful wise man, excellent with children, highly competent, honest and hard working (as a younger man he had worked in every department of a large international five-star hotel) he had what some regarded as a disability. Thomas suffered from a very serious stutter. It seems that expatriate housewives did not have the patience to listen to him. Sadly, as a result, he had been out of work for twelve long years. Therefore, Thomas was destitute—too poor to even own a bicycle. The Harris family loved him.

Fortunately, the solution was simple and straightforward. John Harris arranged for him to build a house in the back garden. Though no other new staff houses on the campus had quarters for servants, there was nothing extraordinary in this solution. It had been a long-standing colonial custom in Africa and India to have the servants' quarters built at the bottom of the garden, often behind the vegetable patch.

And thus, it happened that Thomas built his house.

In parts of central Africa people continue to use house styles and construction technologies that have remained virtually unchanged for thousands of years. Occasionally a modern tool such as a saw or axe may be used. In the village, house building was not a specialised task. Like the ability to hunt, track, kill and butcher wild animals, most men had all the skills needed.

Upon betrothal for example, a young man's first task would have been to build the house for himself and his bride. After discussion and consultation, the village elders would allocate the plot. Depending on the local lore and custom, this would be close to the bride's parents (if matrilineal) or the groom's family (if patrilineal). The husband-to-be would then organise his team of builders and supply of raw materials. Usually the team was made up of two or three male helpers (paid by the promise to help them out on some big project of theirs).

Only four kinds are needed: short, strong wooden poles for the walls; long thin flexible for the horizontal tie beams; longer lighter poles for the roof rafters and long elephant grass for the thatch. Though the bush poles (of different lengths and diameters) and roofing straw could be bartered from other villagers, most men would simply go out and cut the supplies they needed from the surrounding bush and savannah forest.

After the basic structure, that is the walls and rafters, has been erected, the next phase (not shown) is to fill the void around the posts and tied beams of the walls with a mixture of thick mud and straw (wattle and daub). Where available, cow dung may also be added to the mud, ostensibly to keep down insects. Provided there is a large overhang of thatch and the rainwater can drain freely from the walls' foundations, the structure is safe and solid—and will usually last for more than ten years. However, termites will eventually eat away the main supports. This outcome, however, is not regarded as a serious disadvantage. Indeed, it is more of a convenience. The people of rural central Africa are only semi-permanent residents because their "slash and burn" (chitemene) system of agriculture requires that every seven years or so the entire village moves to a fresh part of the bush three to five kilometers (two or three miles) away.

After the walls have been completed, the roof's thatch goes on. Inside the house the builder's wife with a women friend or two will thoroughly soak the dirt floor with buckets of water to make a soft muddy surface that can be easily worked with the hands. This mud surface is then packed and beaten down to form a hard even floor. Finally, the floor is made smooth and allowed to dry out. The house is now more or less complete. Photographs show the typical size.

The time required to build the house depends on the number of helpers—usually two, rarely more than five. On average, the entire construction from start to finish takes between four and seven days. Men learn the skills needed in their boyhood and youth as they help other men folk build homes. Where polygamy is practiced, the man will build a separate house for each of his wives. When a couple or person gets too old to be comfortable with the hard work required their hut will by erected by fellow villagers—more often than not out of gratitude for the elderly's wisdom and contribution to communal life. If either the husband or wife dies, the thatch will be torched and the dwelling destroyed by fire—a new house free of evil omens will be built for the survivor by close relatives.

Cooking is done on a hearth three or four yards away outside the house. This fire also serves as a nightly focal point around which neighbours will gather to gossip and share stories. A fire, inside the house, even for heating, is unknown. Not only is the tropical weather rarely cold enough but also smoke from a fire would quickly make the single room unusable. The house is more to provide shelter and a modicum of personal space. Mats and animal skins cover the floor. The few personal possessions that the couple has are hung from the rafters. Where there are small children in the family an animal skin or blanket is hung up at night to give parents privacy. In some communities, the external walls may be decorated with large, bold and colourful designs. Finely ground wood ash, charcoal, different shades of brown and reddish earths, dark grayish clays and yellow ochres are used for the colouring.

The village itself would usually consist of around fifteen to twenty five such houses. The small community would be within comfortable walking distance of neighbouring villages of a similar size. After nightfall, a high camel-thorn hedge or defensive barrier, a kraal, protected the village from prowling predators such as lion and leopard.

Perhaps crude and rough to Western eyes, houses of this kind are nevertheless, supremely well adapted to their environment. Better so than most homes in Europe and North America. Low cost to build and maintain, the homes are in harmony with the people's communal spirit and sensitivities. They fit the human scale of the village. Moreover, they use local, natural eco-friendly materials means that after each has served its purpose, the appetites of insects and the passage of rainy seasons will rapidly weather the structures back into the earth from whence they came.

European colonialists and Afrikaner farmers only introduced three main changes to the traditional design. One was the rectangular shape like the one adopted by Thomas to replace the circular layout. Another was the 'Kimberly Brick' made of sun dried mixture of mud and straw. Towns of the Nile Valley of ancient Egypt also used this material. The third innovation was the corrugated iron roof. Though adopted by the more wealthy because it was fire-proof, and so could not be burnt down by enemies, the metal had none of the insulating and cooling properties of thatch—and worse, after a few rainy seasons the sheets would rust and soon look squalid.

At 2002 values, the house cost Thomas around 30 British pounds (US$ 50). This was largely the money spent on drinks and food to give thanks and celebrate the completion of the house.

These poles are key structural elements. As well as their length and diameter, they have been carefully selected for the type of wood, strength, resistance to insect attack and straightness—and then freshly harvested from the wild bush and savannah forest that is within a short walking distance. Then a trench is dug and the uprights are installed in the trench.

Termites (Isoptera) rapidly destroy most dead wood in the African tropics. Since the house uses wood for its main structures, protection is essential. Hence, poisonous plants are used. In this case a euphorbia with its thick white sap is used. The sap is a toxic irritant, sure to discourage hungry bugs. The plant material is broken up, mashed and buried in the trench around the base of the uprights (you can see the twigs if you look closely). The protection lasts several years.

The next step is to fill the trenches and make sure the uprights are firmly in place. Thomas uses a traditional cast iron hoe to tamp down the clumps of earth around the base of the uprights. This is not crucial because with the tied horizontal beams, the entire structure forms a strong and self-supporting basket-like framework. Iron, like that in the hoe, was in use in this part of Africa long before the metal had been discovered and used in prehistoric Europe.