Wamira - Settlements

Wamira is bounded on all sides. To the west and east lie the Wamira and Uruam rivers. To the north and south are the sea and mountains. Wamiran land, thus circumscribed, comprises a total of about 5 square kilometers and is roughly square in shape. The village is divided into two wards: the original old village at the western end called Damaladona or Wadubo ( wadubo meaning "old"); and Rumaruma on the eastern fringe. Rumaruma originated several generations ago when the growing population of Damaladona spread out and settled land that formerly had been used for banana gardens. Damaladona has about one-third of the population, and Rumaruma the remaining two-thirds. Within each ward, settlements are scattered into seaside hamlets, of which there are a total of eighteen. The larger hamlets are further divided into named sections. Within these, people live in households of nuclear, and occasionally extended, families. House Construction was traditionally of woven coconut-frond walls and thatched roofs, although many roofs are being replaced by corrugated sheets of tin. Tin roofs are valued because, coupled with gutters and water tanks, they allow for the collection of rainwater.