Around 1940 a hut was the most common kind of dwelling of the Gikuyu tribe in Kenya. These huts were round, with wooden walls and grass thatched roofs. Primitive as it may seem, a hut was a symbol of power among the tribesmen. It implicitly meant having a wife or wives; the owner was refered to as ''muthuri'' which means elder, and was considered capable of holding a responsible position in tribal affairs. There is even a proverb that says that ''the quality of a man is judged by his homestead''. Constructing one of these involved a lot of rituals, but more importantly, a lot of teamwork. Friends and family would gather to help out, and not just with the building process itself, but even by providing the necessary raw materials. As a result, building one of these huts took only one day.
According to traditon, every man was required to have at least two huts: one for his wife, and one for himself. However, this custom is dying out very fast, thanks to the ridiculous hut taxation imposed by the British Government. Very soon, this tradition will probably be forgotten.
This lead me to thinking about the current situation of our world. Due to rapid progress in communications and technology development, different cultures worldwide are being influenced by the minute, distorted, but what's infinitely worse- they are becoming standardized. In my opinion, it is very imporant for every country to fight for the sake of preserving its culture, its identity. After all, it is the uniqueness and diversity that make this world such a beautiful place to live.
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I couldn't agree with you more. The idea that our culture is ever evolving is very much on point. There are so many things in my very own community that I have seen change for the better and the worse. Our communities definitely need to work on preserving what we hold sacred.
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