Sarah Chayes '80 Speaks About Life in Afghanistan

On Sunday, Oct. 1, Sarah Chayes, author of the newly released book, The Punishment of Virtue, shares her thoughts on Afghanistan.

September 26, 2006

ANDOVER, Mass.— In 2002, National Public Radio (NPR) war correspondent Sarah Chayes left her journalism job behind her to devote herself to rebuilding Kandahar, a city that had once served as the defacto capital of the Taliban and which had been devastated during the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. Chayes’ selfless efforts made her the subject of countless news stories and put her in a position to provide the world with a first-hand account of the harsh realities of life in post-war Afghanistan.

On Sunday, October 1, Chayes will share her perspectives during a talk at Phillips Academy. The presentation will be part of an interfaith service that will be held in Cochran Chapel at 11 a.m. Copies of Chayes’ newly released book, The Punishment of Virtue: Inside Afghanistan After the Taliban, from Penguin Press will be available. The event is open to the public. The service will include musical selections from Andover’s music department.

During an earlier visit to the school’s campus in January, Chayes, a 1980 alumna of Phillips Academy, was presented with the 23rd Claude Moore Fuess Award. Considered the Academy’s highest honor, the award is given in recognition of an alumnus who has made a distinguished contribution to public service.

During her earlier visit to Andover, Chayes explained that her decision to quit NPR and become involved in Afghanistan’s reconstruction came suddenly in response to a simple question put to her by the uncle of Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai: “Wouldn’t you come back and help us?”

Initially, Chayes helped run Afghans for Civil Society, a non-profit organization focused on rebuilding houses and schools and on bringing to Afghanistan some of the intellectual resources necessary for formulating constructive public policy. It was a task fraught with frustration and personal peril, as it meant regularly dealing with the local warlords who have usurped much of the power in Afghanistan.

By January 2004, satisfied that Afghans for Civil Society had been established as a constructive, functioning organization, Chayes left to take on a new project. Today, she runs a small agri-business called Arghand, which uses traditional Kandahar fruit crops to produce skin-care products, such as soap and bath oil, as well as jams for the local market.

“What we are doing is just incredibly exciting,” she says. “We are exploring the rich agricultural and botanical resources of southern Afghanistan for essential oils and vegetable dyes, which we are crafting into soaps that resemble river-polished lumps of marble.”

As part of that effort, she convinced some of the local people to use their land to grow roses, which she will distill for rose oil. By doing that, she explains, she is helping villagers develop a viable alternative to poppy farming. Since the end of the war, Afghanistan’s poppy production has exploded, along with the country’s lucrative trade in opium and heroin.

As excited as Chayes is about the business, however, she is under no illusion that her efforts will produce a dramatic change in Afghanistan’s situation. While there have been significant improvements in some of the country’s infrastructure, much of the population has become disillusioned as corrupt warlords tighten their control over the people and Jihadists coming in from Pakistan try to destabilize the country. Moreover, misguided governmental policies and inadequate U.S. support efforts have exacerbated the problems.

 “What I am doing is simply irrational,” she says, “There is no indication that anything is changing for the better and that my little democratically run, co-ed, flower-power cooperative will survive the next few years.”

In the meantime, Chayes’ mere presence in Afghanistan, where she lives as a fully integrated member of the community, allows her to bear witness to the country’s struggle toward democracy. And it is in that role, perhaps, that she can have the greatest impact of all. Media outlets and humanitarian groups regularly seek out her perspective on Afghanistan, and her occasional op-ed pieces and e-mails to her growing list of friends and supporters help keep the outside world informed about life on the ground in Afghanistan.

After graduating from Andover, Chayes went on to earn a B.A. in history from Harvard University, receiving the Radcliffe College History Prize for best senior thesis written by a woman. She served in the Peace Corps in Morocco, then returned to Harvard to earn an M.A. in history and Middle Eastern studies.