Write@Home
Winter 2015

Homeland

Poor district of eastern city

In Afghanistan there are two types of houses. Traditional houses are made with mud and bricks which is a good insulation material. All the windows face south to gain the maximum amount of sunlight during the winter. These houses have small kitchens of 1.5 to 2 square metres, but some houses have larger kitchens of 2.5 to 3 square metres. The living room is 3.5 to 4 square metres. They have mattresses, carpets and some nice pictures on the wall. Every house has 3 to 4 bedrooms of 3 to 3.5 square metres. Some of these rooms have mattresses and carpets and some of these have beds and one small carpet. Some of these houses have a welcoming area. There are small bathrooms which are used as laundry during the winter. Some of these houses have garages and some have only one or two small basement rooms.

Modern houses are made with bricks, clay, cement, steel skewers and sometimes mud. These budlings are western style, very beautiful and already they have basement rooms of 8 to 10 square metres with one kitchen and one bathroom. The first floor has 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, one living room with an open kitchen with all electric appliances. Some of these buildings have a laundry room. On every floor 5 to 8 people living there. These buildings have 3 to 4 garages.