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Will the wonders never cease?

Technology in rural Afghanistan is amazing, I really enjoy seeing all the things people are able to make out here without complex tools. I got to watch the transformation of a pile of mud and straw into a large, beautiful patio warming stove.

 

The mud showed up in a taxi -- that's right, a taxi. It is general, run-of-the-mill mud. Straw is mixed into and pounded with feet.

 

The mud is stomped out into layers.

 

Mud layers are made into a dome. Only three tools were used to make this, a clay half-dome, a wooden slab, and a knife. The clay half-dome goes inside the mud dome, and the wood slab is used to smack the outside of the mud.

 

The half dome is allowed to dry for a few days, and lifted to where it needs to go.

 

The front is cut out of the stove, and a fire lit inside to cure it.

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Uploaded on November 9, 2008
Taken on November 2, 2008