Thatch Roofing in Zulu

Photo Credit: online pic.

Thatching a roof is fu-le-la in Zulu.

Countries are arbitrarily divided into developed and developing, an improvement from when countries in Africa, Asia, South America and most islands were called underdeveloped.

One of the main characteristics of ‘underdeveloped’ countries is recycling: Take from nature, use and send back to nature. Traditional societies worked with nature to find ‘vegan’ food, broad leaves to cook and serve food, clothes to cover the body, hunting implements and building houses.

Settlers from Europe found indigenous people walking barefoot in order to be in sync with the soil, their mother and sleeping on the floor in houses made of grass and mud. Pillars for houses and roofing came from nature.

In Nigeria, they used palm trees for thatching. They use grass in South Africa. Rural women still identify grass ideal for thatching (u-ku-fu-le-la). Thatched roofing is fashionable in urban homes of the rich, where they use it for outside the house rooms, for relaxing.

Fu-le-la. You say the first part like fool, the second like leg and the third like lark.

ZULU	ENGLISH
Baya-fulela.	They are thatching a roof.
Sizo vuka ekuseni si-yofulela.	We’ll wake up in the morning and thatch a roof.
Ngi-zofulela ngo-tshani.	I will thatch with grass
E-Nigeria ba-fulela nge sundu.	They thatch will palm leaves in Nigeria.
Ngi-sizeni ngi-fulele ilawu labafana.	Please help me thatch the boys’ room.

By: Nonqaba waka Msimang