Customer Reviews

Opium Season: A Year on the Afghan Frontier

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
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Joel Hafvenstein's first book somehow manages to juggle the anecdotal familiarity of an autobiographical travellogue with the clinical objectivity of a historical text... somehow leaving the "clinical" by the wayside.

Most Americans saw it on the news that a group of aid workers were killed in Afghanistan in May of 2005. But if that's the extent of your knowledge about aid projects or Afghanistan, ten pages of this book could change your entire perspective on the event. Each chapter introduces you to the aid workers of Chemonics, both Afghani and foreign, with Hafvenstein's signature warmth of loving description. Every page details the near-impossibility of the glass mountain that they climb, endeavoring to help underprivileged agricultural laborers in a country where almost all of the power is in the hands of those who have a vested interest in opium. Every page is a heart-rending yet hopeful account of the unending work that they do in the face of results that may or may not, in the end, be meaningful to the people who need help the most. And as you get to know the people he introduces you to, and as you grow to truly appreciate the dragons they face, you suddenly realize that this book is a true story... and that at the end of this book, some of these characters you have grown to love will die.

Hafvenstein has immortalized for the world several lives that may otherwise be forgotten in the endlessly fickle noise of the evening news. As it turns out, they are lives well worth reading about.

And once you've encompassed the content of the book, the rest is merely a discussion of the talent of the writer. I found that this account of life and work in Afghanistan nearly reads itself... that, despite the incredible depth of information inside, which in and of itself will have me doing a re-read very shortly. Hafventstein has done something rather masterful with his history: he's used every single historical detail to add nuance and interest to every event in the story. Thus you find out how spats between groups of police are actually related to territorial disputes going back for decades... this could easily become dry, but in fact, it remains steadily and even increasingly fascinating as the pages turn.

Another facet of Hafvenstein's particular style: he has a way of writing about the horrors of war and corruption without ranting like a polemicist. His words gather you in, presenting the facts as they happened and respecting your sensibilities enough to let you realize for yourself what it must have been like. But when he describes his own reactions to the things that happened, he switches to a nakedly honest account of his own emotions and motives that I can only wish were more encouraged in journalism.

This is a well-written book... even if it weren't more worthy of being read simply because of its vast importance. People, despite the impossibility of the task, are still doing some good in these countries. Joel, his wife, and countless others will spend their lives chipping steadily away in an effort to make the life of even a single war-ravaged village slightly better. This book somehow explains to you why they're doing it, even while carefully detailing how incredibly difficult it has always been and will continue to be.

This vivid memoir both tells a gripping story and demonstrates the enormous problems with the U.S.'s current approach to aid and development work in Afghanistan. Despite the best of intentions and the heroic work efforts detailed in this book, Chemonics and its Afghan workers ultimately not only failed in their attempt to provide alternative livelihoods for opium farmers but, in some cases, lost their lives in the struggle. At best, they provided a brief respite from the chaos and terror that has now returned to the province of Helmand. It's amazing that the author has retained his faith in international development and his love for Afghanistan.

I just retired as a USAID Foreign Service Officer after 26 years of service. Although I didn't work in Afghanistan (I just spent the last 3 years in post tsunami Sri Lanka) I have the experience to critically consider Joel Hafvenstein's Opium Season and in my judgment it is an important contribution to development literature as a personal account. It is well written and hard to put down. He has woven into the chronological account his thoughts and emotions allowing the reader to understand the personal challenges and dangers of working in Afghanistan. He has also developed a clear understanding of deficiencies of programs to reduce poppy production through cash-for-work programs. His criticisms of USAID and its politically driven agenda set by State Department are on the mark. The basic problem is that any real progress will occur over a long period of time -- too slow for the bureaucrats -- with a carefully developed and implemented strategy. Meanwhile there are hundreds of millions of dollars to be spent quickly to meet targets that have little connection to real political or social progress. Throw into this mix contractors who see a major opportunity to make a tidy profit and everybody wins --- except the Afghan people -- and the contractor staff who are so exposed as Hafvenstein describes. I should also add that although he worked for a "for profit" contractor I would expect a "not-for-profit" organization to behave not much differently. Contractors do not establish strategy -- but rather implement the programs designed by the donors such as USAID.

Opium Season is an important contribution and should be read by anyone thinking about working in a post conflict country although the general public would also enjoy it. Hafvenstein has clearly demonstrated that although he wasn't a bad administrator in Afghanistan that he is a very talented writer.

I read this book last summer and immediately afterwards read "Three Cups of Tea" from Greg Mortenson.
I have to say that I found Opium Season a much better book!
The writing is well done and you really do feel that you are there in Afghanistan experiencing some of the same horrors that Mr. Hafvenstein saw in his year of working there. You also can feel a real comradery amongst the workers as they take care of each other...such as when he is told to leave for the evening so that the girlfriend doesn't have to get a message saying that he was killed since he needed to write some reports.
I have given this book to many friends who are interested in hearing more about this country and how the US seems to hinder rather than help at times and it has always come back with favorable reviews from them. The only complaint from some is that it is a little "academic" at times.
All in all--a great read though.

A very sad story, but simply and strongly written.
Mr Hafverstein worked in Afghanistan as part of a U.S. foreign assistance program to help in the development of this poor war-weary country. Mr. Hafverstein's book is written at the grass-roots level. He describes the tribulations and heart-aches of trying to accomplish development in Afghanistan. Part of the purpose of the project he was working on is to take Afghani's off the cultivation of opium and to grow `legal' crops - a difficult enough task in most countries. Their project hires people to pave roads, clean and renew irrigation canals. They employ engineers from Afghanistan and people from the local community for the manual labour. They travel far and wide through the Helmand province of Afghanistan observing many poppy fields. Eventually many internal antagonisms within the region lead to tragic consequences. As one reads - one wonders - who is using whom - are the drug lords happy that water is now reaching their poppy fields - but what about the labour that is being removed from the needed harvesting of the poppy fields.
It is not the role of the NATO forces to provide protection to civilian development groups like the one Mr. Hafverstein is working for. Therefore they need to hire protection - employing from the local police forces or the community, which is a miltia amalgam that has shifted alliances several times in the last years. This protection consists of AK-47's. grenade launchers,... Sometimes the areas where they work promise protection - they may or may not follow through.
Often these development groups do not want to be linked directly with foreign military forces, but in Afghanistan this can be a lethal Catch-22. There are so many opposing factions(the religious Taliban, the opium traffickers, the Pakistani secret police, competing family and regional alliances - which all leads to great complexity and corruption). It is difficult to know from day-to-day what tensions will erupt to the surface. Tension permeates the entire development process in Afghanistan. At one point hostages are taken and released in a local village but the vehicle is stolen. This simmers and festers for several months - the development groups move back to this troubled locality and stability reigns for a few months. Then there are murders of Afghan development workers.
It is wonderful and sad at the same time to see the friendship's grow between the Afghanistan people and the foreign development workers (not all of whom are American). These friendships and the will to improve the people of Afghanistan are impressive and genuine. After the tragic murders the development process is shattered and interrupted.
A country that has been invaded, had civil strife, had an intolerant religious dictatorship that outlawed basic education; will take several years to intense investment and development to progress close to anything resembling a `modern' state. As Mr. Hafverstein suggests this development will have to move beyond short term goals.
Through Mr. Hafverstein we also get a view of the people of Afghanistan. Religion(in this case Islam) is omni-present at all levels of society - it rules the relationship between people; particularly between man and woman. In Mr. Hafverstein's group there are no Afghanistan woman taking any decision making roles. Three are two burga-clad secretaries in the office - all the thousands of manual employees are male. Mr Hafverstein describes his day at a market where no women are encountered.
Obviously Afghanistan has a long and treacherous path on the road to development.

Reading the Opium Season felt like reading a first-rate adventure novel starring a particularly likeable and honest protagonist. The great thing about the book though is that, by the time I finished, I had real insight into Afghanistan and into international development and counter-insurgency strategies.

The Opium Season is the story of a young development worker thrust into a role above his pay grade: the number two position on a "cash-for-work" program designed to immediately create many thousands of jobs, in an Afghani province, for workers displaced by drug eradication. The protagonist grows from a bumbling neophyte to an effective and often ingenious leader; the project flourishes and pushes into the most Taliban-infested corners of Helmand province. Then the enterprise collapses when some combination of drug lords, Taliban and tribal leaders targets the project for extinction. Mr. Hafvenstein and his colleagues run for their lives.

Maybe my favorite thing about the book is the fact that, over a relatively short period of time, Hafvenstein seemed to achieve a remarkable degree of intimacy with a broad range of Afghanis -- and that he fills the book with acute renderings of these different personalities. You start to see how Afghanis think about sex, religion, gender, the United States, and other issues. You also find yourself caring passionately about the well-being of Hafvenstein's co-workers, which makes the second half of the book even more exciting.

The other thing I particularly appreciated about the Opium Season is the fact that the author delivered his policy critiques in a way that I found easy to digest. Unlike some authors, he doesn't tack 50 pages of pompous scholarship onto the back-end of 200 pages of breezy memoir. Instead, he shares his policy ideas in bits and pieces throughout the book. Hafvenstein's ideas seem to make sense, and his approach makes the book feel like an escape rather than homework.

In short, I think the Opium Season is a terrific book, and I suspect that a broad range of readers will feel likewise.

Mr. Hafvenstein is one of the best young non-fiction writers I have read in a while. The subject matter is fascinating, and this book introduces it well without oversimplifying. If you are interested in foreign policy, development, Afghanistan, or simply a human story, I highly recommend this book.

I read new books on Afghanistan whenever I can. Visiting Afghanistan seems to bring lunacy to the surface in westerners. Joel Hafvenstein retained his sanity and wrote a good common sense book about an experience that must have been really painful. His writing is easy to read, very expressive, and he does a superb job of explaining the local politics that cripple our efforts there and which we understand so poorly. This is easily the best personal experience book written by an American about Afghanistan so far.

This book gave me goose bumps! I spent a year as a Medical Officer assigned to the Helmand Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) during the period that Mr. Hafvenstein was running the Chemonics operation in Lashkar Gah. Although recalling some of the treachery and tragedy of 2005-2006 Helmand was both exciting and painful for me, the book does an excellent job of providing readers with an accurate situational awareness into Afghan government and aid programs at the local district and provincial level. If Joel is willing to return to Afghanistan after this harrowing experience, he has earned my utmost admiration and respect.

Reading "Opium Season" for a class on drug policy, I was struck with the discrepancy inherent in living in Afghanistan at the period that Hafvenstein did. He details it, through this book, as a very happy period in his life with regard to the personal connections he made. This I found to be true as a result of my travels around the region: personal relationships, friendships, are easy to forge. At the same time, Hafvenstein brings to the forefront the very big issues inherent in Afghanistan at that point in time. These issues are all too present today:
-Opium funding Taliban insurgents
-A lack of focus on development
-Faulty security
-Factionalized tribal structures that support the insurgency

Indeed, the biggest aspect I pulled from this book was that the real impediment to a police force in Afghanistan is the lack of a true, noncorrupt police force. Hafvenstein notes at one point in the book that his workers are unable to work on Alternative Livelihood Projects because their security is provided by tribal warlords that are, in turn, funding the opium trade they are trying to curb and the insurgents that fight them.

All in all, this is a touching, heart-breaking firsthand account of one man's struggle in Afghanistan. It is a chilling insight into the problems the country faced and continues to face.