Better Homes proposes co-operation between the Africans and the local administration, but it is the manner in which this co-operation is presented that is of most interest to colonial historians.

The film illustrates continued British supervision in the development of African life. First, this is evident through the film’s use of a British commentator, who examines the existing local houses – ‘he has not made the best use of the material at hand. His house needs rebuilding’ – before outlining the building requirements and specifications for Africans wishing to build their own homes. Secondly, within the film the Africans are visited by a white official, who ‘has come to help build’ the house. This official, in jacket and tie, returns at the end of the film to inspect the work of the Africans who have constructed the house.

The commentary represents this house-building process as a further example of the ‘social development’, and ‘civilisation’ of Africa under the British. The perceived improvements under British rule are highlighted: ‘How different from the days not so very long ago when any sort of dwelling would do so long as it provided some sort of shelter’. The commentator further suggests that these new houses ‘will last much longer than the ordinary mud dwelling that one sees in so many African villages today’.

Better Homes suggests that the development of the house is indicative of social development. ‘Better homes’, the commentator suggests, provide a ‘brighter outlook for those who live in them’, while better gardens make for a ‘happier family’. The commentary discusses man’s duty, not just to his family but to his neighbour to help make ‘the whole village a more contented and better housed community’, Furthermore, the significance of the house in terms of sanitation and health is reiterated as it is important to bring children up ‘in an atmosphere of cleanliness’.

The building work itself is performed by Africans, which may suggest that the locals are able to assume responsibility for their own social development. The commentary claims that ‘Today it is possible to learn in a few weeks how to build one of these houses’ adding that ‘most Africans today can build for themselves’ such houses. Yet this also underplays the skilled work of the Africans –‘Building with these mud and blocks is simplicity itself’ – and ultimately the British filmmakers depict an Africa that is aspiring to be more like Britain. The ‘idealised’ African home is a reproduction of western British life. Concluding shots show a family of four, with the father, dressed in a suit and tie, his wife, shown at the window preparing the meal, and their two daughters playing in summer dresses. This is a very British familial construction, and would seem to ignore the realities of housing and family structures for many in East Africa.

Tom Rice (April 2008)