Sarah Chayes
Radio: Bio of Sarah Chayes
December 17, 2006
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After reporting for years for National Public Radio in the Balkans, North Africa, and the Middle East, as well as nearer her base in Paris, Sarah Chayes chose to leave journalism in 2002 to help rebuild Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban regime. She has launched a village-level cooperative in the former Taliban stronghold of Kandahar, producing fine skin-care products from local fruits, nuts, and botanicals. The aim is to discourage opium production by helping farmers earn a living from licit crops, as well as to encourage collective decision-making processes. From this position, deeply embedded in Kandahar’s everyday life, Chayes has gained unparalleled insights into a troubled region.
Beginning in 2002, Chayes served in Kandahar as field director for Afghans for Civil Society, a non-profit organization founded by Qayum Karzai. Under Chayes’s leadership, ACS rebuilt a village destroyed during the anti-Taliban conflict, launched a successful income-generation project for Kandahar women, launched the most popular radio station in southern Afghanistan, and conducted a number of policy studies. Later, she ran a dairy cooperative.
From 1996, Chayes was Paris reporter for NPR. Her work during the Kosovo crisis earned her the 1999 Foreign Press Club and Sigma Delta Chi awards, together with other members of the NPR team. She has also reported from Algeria, Lebanon, Israel/Palestine, Serbia and Bosnia, as well as covering the International War Crimes Tribunal, and the European Union. Before that, Chayes free-lanced from Paris for a variety of radio and print outlets. She began her radio career in 1991 at Monitor Radio’s Boston headquarters.
Chayes graduated in history from Harvard in 1984, earning the Radcliffe College History Prize. She served in the Peace Corps in Morocco, then returned to Harvard to earn a master’s degree in History and Middle Eastern Studies, specializing in the medieval Islamic period. She was born in Washington DC, in 1962. She has three sisters and one brother.
Chayes is recipient of the inaugural Ruth Adams award for writing on strategic issues. She has published op-ed articles in the New York Times, Boston Globe, and the Christian Science Monitor. She is featured in the Sundance/Frontline World documentary, “Life After War"/"A House for Haji Baba.” She has appeared on “NOW with Bill Moyers,” the “Oprah Winfrey Show” (2004 Chutzpah Award), “ABC News” (Person of the Week), CNN’s “Good Morning America,” “Reliable Sources,” and “Anderson Cooper 360,” as well as NPR’s “Fresh Air,” “Talk of the Nation” and other programs. She has lectured widely, including at the Harvard Kennedy School “Forum,” the National Defense University, the School for Advanced Military Studies at Ft. Leavenworth, Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School, and various World Affairs Councils. Her recent book on post-Taliban Afghanistan is called "The Punishment of Virtue: Inside Afghanistan After the Taliban" (Penguin Press, August 2006).
-- Bio provided by Penguin Press
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