Submitted by Zarmina Madatyar and Shogofa Ali
What is it?
This is a hand-wash pot and bowl called aftaba and lagan, with handkerchief or towel for drying hands. Aftaba is a pitcher and lagan is a big bowl.
What do you use if for?
We use it for washing our hands two times: Before eating lunch and after finishing lunch, and before eating dinner and after finishing dinner. Before eating we use only warm water. After eating we also use soap to get oil from the food off our hands. We don’t use them in the mornings because we wash and clean in the morning already.
Why is it important to you?
Because in Afghanistan we do not have a sink in the same building or area with the public living rooms and also the kitchen is outside the living space. The old person like our grandfather and grandmother and the children cannot go outside for washing hands. We put warm water inside the aftaba and bring it with the lagan for washing hands. We start from grandfather, then the grandmother, then father, step by step, and at the last we wash the children’s hands before they touch the spoon or fork. It is our culture and also we show children how we can value and give respect to grandparents and parents. Children watch and they learn. It is the beginning for the children to learn how to treat other people. First they pour water and then they give the towel. They use a white towel to show that everything is clean. Here now we sometimes use paper towels.
The children learn it for their future how to behave with other people. The smallest person in the house does this for the older people. It is my traditions.
What does it show or say about your culture?
When we have a festival like celebrating the wedding, birthday and other parties we use it and guests see the children washing the guests’ hands. They see the children have respect. In my culture respect for older people is very important.
When did you get it?
We buy them from our country, specially from our cultural shops. I brought mine from Afghanistan. It is a very simple one. Sometimes they have a lot of decoration and are made from copper, brass, or silver.