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80%
of Afghan villages have been destroyed leaving millions homeless.
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There could never have been a time within our living memory when, on all levels,
the world has seemed so uncertain for the whole of humanity. Yet many of us are
still able to return to a home at the end of a day. The Afghan population, on
the other hand, has been hit by constant man-made and natural disasters for the
past 23 years. Thousands of Afghan children orphaned by the Soviet War
have been sent for long-term indoctrination in the former Soviet Union, 10
million landmines have claimed and maimed millions, 6 million Afghans have
acquired refugee status while 80% of the population has been displaced, and 80%
of Afghan villages have been destroyed, with all these numbers increasing as a
result of the current US bombardment of Afghanistan (Azizi p.1). Within
the past four months alone, floods destroyed 500 homes in the Badghis Province (Kriner
p.1), and as autopsies of bodies found in mass graves point to the U.S-backed
National Alliance and not the Taliban, Afghanis are left exposed to the extreme
elements and current deprivation of their environment (AP p.1-2).
Promises…Promises…
Amidst
this bleak picture, Afghan leader Hamid Karzai announced that world donors have
provided contributions that will be used, amongst other things, to rebuild
Afghan homes. Those promises have yet to be realized. Those promises
resulted in an influx of Afghanis returning to their country. Thousands returned
demanding food on the Shomali Plains only to find themselves living in appalling
conditions in the Bagram headquarters of the British and U.S campaigns. From
shelters in Kabul, Panjshir Valley and Pakistan where they received some aid
they now find themselves abandoned. Many infants and the elderly live in tents
amongst continuous construction work that has nothing to do with their promised
homes. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the International Organization
for Migration (IOM) gave tents, food and some coal for two days and then left. As a result of those promises, hundreds of
families still return to join in the destitution of burnt farmhouses, landmines,
shells and the twisted metal of tanks and armored vehicles. Referring to the
mixed food of Quickstart chilli mix, Milan cheese sauce, Hawaiian Gold Pineapple
chunks and Tobasco sauce that the soldiers bring, 80 year old Abdul Rahim said,
“These are not the kind of things we are used to eating. But we are very
thankful. We really have very little to eat otherwise, and it is especially hard
on the children. We don’t know what we will do when this stops. Some of the
young men work as laborers, but there isn’t much work around. The Americans
and the British have all these people making buildings in Bagram, so why don’t
they come and rebuild our homes?” Mr. Rahim returned with his and other
families from the Panjshir Valley after being told that the village was being
rebuilt and that they would receive aid. The young men in the family have been
trying to replenish withered vineyards and dried apricot and apple orchards
despite the possible presence of landmines. At the Akekil Qurabagh camp, the
people had been living in the 24-building Russian Embassy complex in Kabul. The
Russians wanted their embassy back and Hamid Karzai’s government and aid
agencies cleared the building. To this, 50-year old Hukum Jan commented, “We
were told by the agencies, the UN and IOM, that if we leave the embassy we will
get help. But no help has come. They are spending so much money on the war, why
don’t they spend some of it on the poor people?” (Sengputa p.1-3).
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Afghan
elder eating grass bread
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Traditionally,
the Afghan home was and still is what is referred to in modern architecture as
‘earthen’ or ‘ceramic’; essentially mud-brick, adobe homes. These homes
are very common in regions of extreme weather conditions. Well-designed and
built, these homes can last hundreds of years even in the midst of earthquakes.
They are cool in the summer and warm in the winter (Azizi p.2). The adobe homes
built within the 23 year period of disasters have not been so well built, and
like the more recent concrete homes are vulnerable to floods and earthquakes and
deteriorate easily (Kamber p.2). Not only that, but concrete homes are cold in
the winter and extremely hot in the summer and require much maintenance due to
climatic changes that result in contraction and expansion. Yet it is concrete
homes that some agencies have been building assuming that this is what is
required without actually consulting the people themselves. With good intentions
the Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI) donated building materials and
tools to returning refugees as a part of their Afghanistan Response Initiative
based in Mazar-I-Sharif for north and north-east Afghanistan (Habitat p.1).
Village
of Hope
The
‘Village
of Hope’ is the brainchild of Afghan architect Mazum Azizi in response to
his people’s request for help. The vision involves “numerous villages each
with a school, orphanage, health clinic, mosque, park and a playground all
within a walking distance of 500 – 2,500 dwellings enough for 4, 000 –
20,000 residents in each village”. It involves earthen homes containing
cement, adobe bricks, mortar and plaster to enhance water and seismic
resistance. Barbed-wired or bamboo is utilized in the brick courses. On a-architects.com,
details of the design with step-by-step instructions are in place to encourage
access and self-building. In addition Azizi has been raising donations and a
long list of volunteer expert help in the construction of these homes (Azizi
p.1, 2). One
would
assume that if the U.S was serious about hunting Osama bin Laden and his
‘merry men’ they would operate from the ground, ending pointless air–raids
so that Afghanistan might be rebuilt.
Architectural
Talent Buried in a Pile of Beaurocracy
On
hand is the expertise of engineer, architect and author Nader Khalili, a
renowned earth architect and teacher who innovated the Geltaftan Earth and Fire
System known as ‘Ceramic House’, and innovated the super-block construction
system. Educated in philosophy and architecture in Iran, Turkey and the U.S,
Khalili is a licensed architect. He has received many commendations including
the 1987 ‘Housing for the Homeless: Research and Education Certificate’, the
Certificate of Special Recognition from the UN’s International Year of Shelter
for the Homeless and the U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development. His
Geltaftan System and Velcro-Adobe were presented at the 1984 NASA Symposium
‘Lunar Bases and Space Activities of the 21st Century’.
Khalili’s concern for a healthy living space free from toxic materials
“evolved from meditation, hands-on-work and searching for a safe and
affordable shelter for humanity…”, he said. Through Khalili’s CalEarth
Institute, his designs passed crucial seismic tests in 1995 in earthquake
vulnerable Hesperia, U.S. The Hesperia Building and Safety Department approved
his earthen constructions systems (CalEarth #1 p.1-5). Tests included
application of stress asymmetrically to the dome using steel cables to apply
thousands of pounds of pressure to the structure. “The testing equipment
failed and the buildings didn’t”, said John Regner, senior plans examiner
for Hesperia Building and Safety Division (Trivedi p.1).
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Khalili’s
earth domes
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The
superAdobe uses local building materials; i.e soil filled sandbags and a barbed
wire construction system. Using standard or long tubular sandbags creates instant rammed earth walls that are cool in the
summer and warm in the winter. These can be made on-site to form walls and the
vaults of Islamic and traditional architecture reinforced with strands of barbed
wire. It was a spin-off from Khalili’s design that was used in the NASA
space-lunar program now referred to as Superadobe Technology adapted to enable
pumped earth coils. Khalil even developed an exterior plastering technique
called ‘Rep-Tile’ which does not require plaster mesh.
This
knowledge in application even went as far as providing training to the UN, thus
transferring this technology to the TOKTEN program in order to rebuild refugee
homes in the Middle East. A prototype of three rectangular bedrooms arching with
vaulted roofs exists in the UN for a stable family.
So
what has happened? Approved for disaster sites after passing six years of
building codes, efforts to build on the Afghan-Iranian border were aborted after
the border was closed to refugees. On the walls of the UN are written the words
of the 13th century Persian philosopher Sa’adi which states,
“Humankind are on the limbs of the same body since they are created from the
same essence. When one limb is in pain, other limbs are restless. If you are
indifferent to other human suffering, you may not be called human”. With no
traces of this technology to be seen in the promised rebuilding of Afghan homes,
aware of the obstacles Khalili commented, “Once we receive a formal
declaration of the human rights to housing, the education to make it happen, and
the networking amongst those who want change, things will change” (Calearth #2
p.1-5). Against the odds, Khalili insists any problems regarding royalties and
bureaucracies can be avoided by setting up a satellite dish and transmitting a
do-it-yourself dome-building seminar in India, Afghanistan or anywhere else (Trivedi
p.1).
Mazum
Azizi and Nader Khalili have endeavored to erode the barriers that face many
Muslims who have much to contribute regardless of the systems that try to deny
usthat right of contribution. It is surprising how the answer is always there
but nobody wants to see it. Continued ignorance will only lead us all farther
down the path of destitution when we are unwilling to recognize the needs of
others. “Beware of reminding those who are under your protection of the
favors you do them, or of exaggerating what you do for them, or of making them a
promise and then subsequently breaking that promise” said ‘Ali ibn Abi
Talib (Haeri p.118).
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