Ann Rubin
Afghans for Afghans founder Ann Rubin knows handmade gifts can be strong symbols of friendship. So when Afghanistan was invaded after the Sept. 11 attacks, Rubin encouraged her fellow knitters to pick up their needles and get to work.
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| Photo by Genesis Photos |
Ann Rubin didn’t know what the Taliban was when she traveled to Pakistan in 1999. Looking back, she sees that the anti-American billboards and refugees trooping through the Khyber Pass from Afghanistan were signs of the war to come. It was these images, along with memories of the poor children camped out beside the border to trade money with foreigners, that popped into her head when the bombs started falling in 2001.
Rubin learned to knit as a high school exchange student in Germany. When the Afghan invasion began, she felt a strong urge to help by getting to work with needles and yarn.
“It was almost an instinctual reaction,” Rubin said. “In times of trouble, whenever there’s war or tragedy, knitters think, ‘What can I knit?’ It comes out of this long-time Red Cross tradition of knitting for soldiers and refugees.”
With the tech boom recently fizzled in her hometown of San Francisco, Rubin and many of her computer-savvy friends had some extra time on their hands. So Rubin enlisted help in creating a website to get out the call for cozy hand knits to serve as symbols of warmth and friendship. Afghans for Afghans was born.
These crafty gifts hold value for the giver and the people in Afghanistan who wear them, Rubin said. “It may not be the most efficient way of doing things, but you see the news and feel helpless and despondent. With this, you can actually do something and know your hat or your sweater will make someone more comfortable during the winter.”
Rubin said she continues to be impressed by the quality of the donations, all of which must be crafted from 100 percent natural fibers. So far, knitters and crocheters from the United States and Canada have stitched up more than 60,000 items for their distant friends. Organizations including Church World Service, Afghans for Tomorrow and Cure Hospital in Kabul help send the clothing and blankets to people who need them.
The knitters and crocheters who donate to afghans for Afghans come from across the political spectrum, which is fine with Rubin. “We get people donating to us for all sorts of reasons,” she said. “Some have a son who’s a soldier in Afghanistan, and they want to help the people there. Some say, ‘My government doesn’t represent how I want to operate in the world.’”
The afghans for Afghans project has become nearly a full-time job for Rubin, who also holds down another paying full-time job. Her dedication hasn’t waned despite the long hours. In fact, Rubin is hoping to take afghans for Afghans to a new level soon by encouraging Afghans to start micro-enterprise projects to sell fair trade, handspun yarn. Knitting and wool production have long been a strong part of Afghan culture, but reinvigorating that tradition will be difficult during such troubled times.
Still, Rubin is dedicated to keeping the donations flowing for as long as they’re needed and to helping the Afghan people regain their livelihoods. “I don’t want to forget the Afghan people. They’re forgotten a lot,” she said. “We want to stick with it to prove we’re not going to give up on Afghanistan.”
Visit www.afghansforafghans.org to learn more about Rubin and her organization.
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