Discover Jonathan Hoffman's unwavering dedication to enhancing education and community welfare in Afghanistan, tackling challenges to restore hope and trust in international aid.
From the prospect of international security, there is the emptiness of the post-9/11 vow that this extraordimary country on the cusp of Central Asia and the Indian Subcontinent be never again a haven for terrorists. From the hopes of the Afghan people for a better life, a relentless succession of images have emerged of poverty, malnutrition, economic collapse, ever-declining healthcare, repression of dissidents and minorities, talent lying fallow, and the general exclusion of women from national life. (See Edward Girardet article on Trump-Biden responsibility for Afghan debacle)
Yet perhaps the darkest vista is the basic loss of trust on the part of the Afghans and their friends in the integrity of the international community, whose many promises have proved to be so hollow. There is, however, Jonathan Hoffman, a friend of Afghanistan who continues to inspire hope because he embodies trust. He has also stayed the course in his own special way for more than two decades, acting as a constant laborer for development amidst the country’s ongoing travails.
As Global Geneva Insights reported last year (See article), Hoffman, the founder and director of Direct Aid International (DAI), is revered by many old Afghan hands as a “development army of one.” Since his first trip to the Hindu Kush in the summer of 2002, he and his small yet hyper-achieving NGO have built a prodigious total of 54 elementary schools in the central provinces of Bamyan, Ghazni, and Wardak, as well as water projects and fruit and nut nurseries.
Meeting with local elders to discuss school construction. (Photo: Hoffman)
The Vermont-based, self-described “non-profit, non-political, non-sectarian organization dedicated to bringing a sense of normalcy to crisis situations” has managed to do so without any violent incidents over twenty years of war and peace by asking the locals themselves what are their needs, and delivering literally concrete answers that have consistently demonstrated that its protagonist is a man of his word.
We spoke to Hoffman on his return from his latest trip to Afghanistan this summer. Besides giving an update on DAI’s newest projects, he offered a unique, ground-level view of how life goes on amidst continuing hardship. And all this at a time when most donors and organizations refuse to go beyond providing basic humanitarian support in a country now run by the hardline Pushtun-dominated Taliban, who seized power just over three years ago following nearly two decades of US-led NATO occupation with over two trillion dollars worth of military support spent on Afghanistan.
Prior to the debacle, foreign aid amounted to 40 percent of the nation’s GDP and financed over half the government’s $6 billion annual budget as well as up to 80 percent of public expenditure. The collapse of the western-backed Kabul regime resulted in the withdrawal of most international aid provoking a catastrophic humanitarian crisis. While the economy has recently levelled out slightly, an estimated 23.7 million Afghans, over half the population of 41 million, are unable to earn a living and rely on UN cash shipments for survival. (See Vanni Cappelli article on a return to terrorism)
Coupled with UN and US sanctions, the international community is reluctant to provide any form of normalization which may smack of recognition of the Taliban, who, the UN maintains, have embraced an “institutionalised system of discrimination, segregation, disrespect for human dignity and exclusion of women and girls.” The end result is that most forms of support in health, education and agriculture are provided by a small group of NGOs seeking to help Afghans beyond basic survival and regardless of the regime in power. This includes DAI, which has sought to continue providing development backing. A growing number of knowledgeable Afghanistan specialists are recommending that the international community step up its support for Afghanistan, including investment. This, they maintain, should not necessarily entail formal recognition other than a moral responsibility to help ordinary Afghans, who many perceive as having been abandoned overnight by the West.
“Things are moving. People are out on the streets and buying things as usual,” Hoffman said of his first stop, the city of Bamyan, capital of central Afghanistan’s mainly Hazara region. “Everything seems the same. I was treated very well, and felt comfortable. Then again, I can’t see behind doors. We all know that the people of Afghanistan are struggling, as they have for over forty years, even under our occupation.” Hoffman was passing through Bamyan on his way to the provincial village of Jalmish, in order to inspect his just-completed School No. 55, a four room structure intended to accommodate Grades 1-3.
“It came out great!” he booms. “Boys and girls from all the grades were lined up to meet me. They are taught together there, but when they reach Grade 4 they move on to a school in another village, about five miles away. I was invited to dinner, but had to decline because I needed to move on to my next inspection.”
Hoffman greeting pupils and teachers at Zamarai school. (Photo: DAI)
That was in the village of Zamarai, in Wagaz district of Ghazni province, a Pushtun area where Hoffman encountered a problem of confused allocation of resources, but resolved it with his usual diplomacy based on sincerity. “Wagaz has a special resonance for me, because that was where I completed my first project, a well for the village of Seven Stones back in 2002. I had originally hired a driller from Ghazni city who boasted, ‘I can bore through anything,’ but gave up when he hit solid rock. So I turned to a local farmer, who succeeded even though he had more rudimentary tools.”
“The problem with School No. 56 in Zamarai was that I had contracted for a six room school, and the locals had changed their minds and built a nine room one intended to accommodate Grades 1-9. I can understand their enthusiasm for expanded education, but I was confronted with an unfinished school which lacked a roof. That will require another $ 5,000.”
“Complicating the problem was that I was all ready to start on School No. 57, in the nearby village of Ahan, and the district governor wanted me to finish this one before starting another one. I explained to him that my donors would not be happy with that, because they contribute with a specific project in mind, and he said he understood.”
Elders at Zamarai with stone wall structure of school behind. (Photo: Hoffman)
Despite the snafu, Hoffman said he had a wonderful time in Zamarai, being greeted by a joyous welcoming committee of the students. “The kids were lined up on either side of the road, boys on one and girls on the other. It was OK for me to shake hands with both, and I gave a short speech, telling them that they were the future of this village.”
With the issue resolved, construction has begun at the Ahan site. Hoffman is now seeking funds for School No. 58, another six roomer whose cost estimate is $25,000. Yet it is harder than ever to raise funds for projects in Afghanistan amidst the current international situation. “It’s been a struggle over the last three years to raise the minimum money necessary for the work I do because other crises have grabbed people’s attention, and Afghanistan isn’t in the news anymore,” he explains.
Local workmen preparing outline of new six-room primary school at Ahan in Waghaz District, Ghazni province in eastern Afghanstain. (Photo: Jonathan Hoffman)
“Also, there is the issue that I have basic standards,” he adds. “I require iron beams and a metal roof, as well as cement. I have always worked with stone, but given the constraints of the hour, I have considered using cinderblocks for the walls. However under no circumstances will I stoop to mudbrick. You have to keep spackling it or it will wash away in a heavy rain – and I will not build a school that will wash away.”
“When I look at what DAI has accomplished over the decades, I really struggle with the fact that we can’t get more financial support – it keeps me up at night. It’s a great investment – to build a future for and positive relations with people who were considered
our enemies.”
Direct Aid International’s website is www.directaidinternational.org
Jonathan Hoffman can be reached at hoffman@directaidinternational.org
Vanni Cappelli, a freelance journalist who writes regularly for Global Insights, is the president of the Afghanistan Foreign Press Association.
Related articles in Global lnsights (www.global-geneva.com)
In a fabled Afghan city, a return to indoctrination and terror
Afghanistan: The Trump-Biden Debacle – Three years on
America’s – and NATO’s – Afghanistan disaster: Still a possible peace solution with a Marshall Plan.
Not Knowing the Color of the Sky in Afghanistan
Ukraine: Putin’s Vietnam
Focus on Afghanistan: Peter Jouvenal – A journalist veteran held by the Taliban
Back to the Cold War
Russia’s Ukraine Intervention: Death by a Thousand Cuts?
Russia and China: The Bros in the Owner’s Box
Building Bridges for Geneva and the world: Breaking the silos