Fariba Nawa (born 1973) is an Afghan-

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

freelance

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

who grew up in both

Herat Herāt (; Persian: ) is an oasis city and the third-largest city of Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Selseleh-ye Safēd ...

and

Lashkargah Lashkargāh ( ps, لښکرګاه; fa, لشکرگاه), historically called Bost or Boost (), is a city in southwestern Afghanistan and the capital of Helmand Province. It is located in Lashkargah District, where the Arghandab River merges into ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

as well as Fremont,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. She was born in

to a native Afghan family., by Fariba Nawa, Lemar-Aftaab (''newspaper''), January–December 2001, access date June 1, 2008 Her family fled the country during the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

invasion in the 1980s. She is

trilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

, and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. She has done her master's degree in Middle Eastern Studies and Journalism from New York University. In 2000 she ventured into

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

controlled Afghanistan by sneaking into the country through

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. She lived and reported from Afghanistan from 2000 to 2007. Furthermore, She travelled extensively in Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, Egypt, and Germany, reporting on her experiences. Her report "Afghanistan Inc." (in ''Corp Watch'') is one of the main resources used in different media around the globe while debating effectiveness of reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan. She examines the progress of reconstruction, uncovers some examples of where the money has, and has not, gone, how the system of international aid works, and does not, and what it is really like in the villages and cities where outsiders are rebuilding the war-torn countryside. She's been a freelance writer for 15 years, covering war, corruption, human/rights, women's cultural trends, and parenting for a range of prestigious newspapers and radio stations. Her book ''

Opium Nation ''Opium Nation: Child Brides, Drug Lords, and One Woman's Journey Through Afghanistan'' is a 2011 book by Fariba Nawa. The author travels throughout Afghanistan to talk with individuals part of the opium production in Afghanistan, centering on wom ...

'' was published in November 2011. The book is her personal account of the drug trade in Afghanistan and how it has affected the poor and disadvantaged. Her writing has appeared in a variety of media, including The Atlantic, Newsweek, Sunday Times of London, Foreign Affairs, Daily Beast, Newsday, Mother Jones, The Village Voice, The Christian Science Monitor, San Francisco Chronicle, and others. She also contributes to radio stations such as National Public Radio (NPR).

Awards

* PEN USA finalist in research nonfiction for Opium Nation Sep. 2012 * Achievement in community service from Afghan Coalition Mar. 2013 * Project Censored for investigative report Afghanistan, Inc. Oct. 2007 * One World Broadcasting Trust Press Award for “Brides of the drug lords” Jun. 2005 * Overseas Press Club Scholarship for an essay on the drug trade in Afghanistan Jan. 2004

References

External links

Official WebsiteCorpWatch : Afghanistan, Inc.: A CorpWatch Investigative Report

Living people 1973 births Afghan women journalists Afghan writers Afghan journalists American people of Afghan descent Women in 21st-century warfare American writers of Afghan descent Women war correspondents 21st-century Afghan women writers 21st-century Afghan writers {{Afghanistan-journalist-stub Hampshire College alumni