RAGE AGAINST THECHINE guitarist Tom Morello has requested help evacuating young female guitarists from Afghanistan in the wake of the recent Taliban takeover.
Morello wrote an open letter over the weekend, which was sent to Billboard by his friend Lanny Cordola, which calls on the music community for assistance in protecting young musicians enrolled in the ‘Girl With A Guitar’ program.
Cordola runs a music school for girls in Afghanistan through his non-profit organisation ‘Miraculous Love Kids’, and launched the ‘Girl With A Guitar’ program in 2015. The program has currently garnered close to 200 students.
“I’m writing on behalf of some very special girls in Afghanistan who are in grave danger,” Morello wrote.
“[Girl With a Guitar] takes in street orphans and other girls that have endured significant trauma and uses music as a rehabilitation tool and means of working through their problems, their histories, and their hopes. I’ve had the honor of collaborating with these wonderful kids.
“Since the Taliban takeover their school has been destroyed and the girls are in hiding. They are at extreme risk because they are widely known to have performed Western music and have been educated by a male American teacher. Anything you could do to help save their lives would be much appreciated.”
In conversation with Billboard, Cordola confirmed he is currently in Pakistan working to get 12 girls, their families and their driver out of Afghanistan, “because their lives are in peril.”
He explains: “We’re trying to investigate if getting them to the Pakistan border is a possibility. We’ve been talking to a lot of different people, rescue organizations. We need to get them out of Afghanistan to start a new life somewhere.”
You too can help and find further information on the ‘Miraculous Love Kids’ website at this location.