Cole, who has both Afghan and American citizenship, is founder and CEO of the Afghanistan World Foundation (AWF). The non-profit organization works to assist the humanitarian needs of Afghans and rebuild their country. AWF was founded in the wake of 9/11 in 2002, but its roots go back to the 1980s when Cole became a vocal advocate for her home country. She started by writing a letter to then-President Ronald Reagan to ask for his help.
“I never dreamed that he wouldn’t answer my letter,” says Ms. Cole, recalling her first step into what has become a lifetime of advocating on behalf of those who have no voice.
But Reagan did respond, and invited the young refugee to the White House. She organized congressional testimony to arm legendary Afghan rebel commander Ahmad Massoud and his Northern Alliance Freedom Fighters. Massoud, who was later assassinated, was nicknamed the lion of Afghanistan. He called Cole his “lioness” for her work and spirit on behalf of their country. It’s a nickname she has lived up to, and then some.
Cole is as unfailingly polite as she is incomparably passionate about rebuilding Afghanistan from decades of war and the poison grip of the Taliban. And she knows how to be genuinely charming when describing deadly serious situations.
Case in point was a recent screening and presentation in New York City of a documentary she produced about an 8-year-old Afghan boy who is the sole income-earner in his family, called The Bread Winner. Cole surprised the audience by stepping out from behind the podium to give a heartfelt explanation of the story behind the making of the documentary.
But if Ms. Cole has mastered the art of charming an audience, she also knows how to keep the focus on the urgent situation in Afghanistan.
“The country is falling apart because of the Taliban,” said Ms. Cole during the presentation.
Rebuilding, Again
Anyone who mistakes Cole as just another pretty face is in for a shock. It’d be more accurate to compare her to a bulldozer with her sights set on literally digging out the earth from underneath the feet of the Taliban.
Well before 9/11, she raised millions of dollars for Afghan refugees after the end of the Soviet occupation there. But it’s since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001 that she has found her stride. In 2002, she visited Afghanistan and saw Pakistani and Afghan refugees living in tents in the bitter cold of winter. Some might have seen only a humanitarian crisis. Cole saw a breeding ground for easy targets when Taliban recruiters came calling.
“When you see a life lived under a tent—it’s so cold in the winter and so hot in the summer—you see how easy it is to take a kid to fight for the Taliban,” says Ms. Cole. “He has [nothing but] a cloth over his head.”
Seven years later, proper housing for Afghans is one of AWF’s primary missions. Along with renowned architect Robert Mechielsen, Cole has conceived of a housing project that will maintain the regional aesthetic quality of Afghan housing. The homes will also be able to withstand earthquakes and bullets and have a carbon-neutral footprint. The project will use recycled shipping containers covered in mud and placed in groups to form traditional housing compounds. Local materials and labor will be used, and AWF hopes to have a prototype ready by this autumn.
Roots Forged in Fire
Cole has been living in the United States since she escaped from her home country when Russian forces invaded in 1979. The story behind her escape remains a mystery, although a recent Wall Street Journal article asserted that she left at the age of 14 on foot, helped by her father’s friend. But the Journal’s account is wrong. Cole has never gone on the record about how she really escaped.
“It was one of those things that was so painful,” says Ms. Cole about her escape. “When people asked how I got out, it was too much to explain the real story—I was young, and so I just created a version.”
This duality of conflict and peace that Cole has lived through is part of her mystique. But it is also a source of strength.
The coming year is going to be one of new beginnings for her, including setting the record straight about her escape in her upcoming biography. She’s also in the midst of financing a movie she wrote called The Black Tulip about a family resisting the evils of the Taliban in Afghanistan.
One of the most distinct characteristics of Cole’s approach to helping Afghanistan is her absolute refusal to kowtow to the Taliban. Case in point, she is planning on filming at least part of her movie in Kabul.
“People don’t realize there’s an entire movie industry there,” says Ms. Cole excitedly when talking about filming her movie. She’s not only excited about the prospect of filming a major motion picture in Afghanistan, she hopes her work will inspire others to work there. But she never takes her eyes off of the ultimate prize.
“My whole goal in Afghanistan is to get rid of the Taliban,” says Ms. Cole.
