In Uganda, An Affordable Alternative To Dirt Floors

By Diana Taremwa Karakire, Associated Press

Simon Tigawalana dreamed for years of doing something about the dirt floors in his small house, blaming them for making his family sick. But in a rural area in one of the world’s poorest countries, making them over with concrete was simply out of reach.

Then a company called EarthEnable approached him to offer an alternative: a clay-based earthen floor that could give him a durable, sealed floor for less than half the cost of concrete. Tigawalana now has the new floor in two rooms and hopes to add it soon in the last room.

“I’m happy that we now have a decent home and can also comfortably host visitors,” said Tigawalana, a 56-year-old father of 16. “Ever since we got a clay floor my kids no longer get cough and flu that used to come from the d