Kelly's House

Kelly's home

This is Kelly in the garden outside his house with the shirts of the Dynamic Stars hanging on the line and Gloria braiding her mam's, Kelly's aunt's, hair. Her name's Beauty. When she's finished, Gloria that is, she will sweep the yard. It needs it and she always seemed to be doing it whenever I called round. She wouldn't be happy with this photograph being included here. Oh well, i'll risk it. Kelly is the Head Coach of the Dynamic Stars, I think I mentioned somewhere before and here he looks pretty smart in his suit. It may have been a Sunday, just after church, or after a trip to the FAZ headquarters in town to register the teams fixtures, I can't recall. Anyway, they've got their own page on this blog dedicated to them and all things football. They are one of the greatest football teams in the world even though they have to wash their own shirts. All things begin somewhere, I suppose. Kelly lives here temporarily, he's looking for a new place, somewhere with a bit more room. He needs it for the football kit he has to store. The room behind him is small and he shares the single bed in there with Emmanual, his 17 year old cousin. They have a little black and white tele on the table at the end and that's all. Beauty and Gloria live in another building, out of view, with the rest of their family but don't ask me to name them all here, I can't. There are two very beautiful two year old twins that stick in my memory. They're are always loads of other children and friends and neighbours hanging around in the yard where there is a water tap. All the cooking and washing is done outside, in fact you can see the tin bath and the charcoal there burning. The house is on the dirt track on the edge of the compound and the yard is good because it offers a degree of privacy. This can be desirable, not least because it gives you somewhere to hang your laundry. The cost of housing varies considerably in the compound. At the lower end of the market a single breeze block room with a door and nothing else would cost in the region of £30-40 a month to rent. Some people, who make some money by whatever means, build their own houses and these can even have flush toilets and running water. Many people who get out of the poverty trap are proud of the village and want to remain near their relatives and friends despite the challenges and problems. It is their home.