Traditional Pokot Home

The traditional Pokot home is called a Boma. There are two types of traditional Pokot homes. The purpose of having the bomas on the compound is to preserve Pokot culture and education. We are having the Good Samaritan mothers who built the bomas teach the COPE House kids how to build, maintain, and care for the bomas. The school will also use them as models for the indigenous studies portion of the CBC curriculum. We also enjoy showing our visitors and guests models of the traditional Pokot home.

The second type of boma that is currently being built at our compound, is more modern. This type has a grass and stick roof, and the walls look different. We are looking forward to sharing some pictures of our new boma soon!

The first type of traditional Pokot home is found throughout our compound. It has walls made out of a combination of dirt, grass, and cow manure. The roof is made with a similar component. It dries hard and becomes very stable. To keep the walls from washing away, "re-mudding" is required throughout the rainy season. To keep the house dry and to smoke out bugs, the inside needs a fire lit in the fireplace. It has a bed for the father and one for the mother and the children traditionally sleep on the floor.