Tom Morello writes open letter asking for help evacuating music students out of Afghanistan
Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello has penned an open letter seeking help in evacuating a group of young women out of Afghanistan following the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul.
The letter was sent to Billboard by the 57-year-old musician’s friend and guitar teacher Lanny Cordola.
In 2015, Cordola began a music school for girls in Afghanistan called Girl With a Guitar. It was founded through his non-profit organisation Miraculous Love Kids, which aims to teach guitar to children in areas devastated by war.
The academy is specially founded for young girls who have little to no rights and are often forced into marriage and face the most extreme forms of violence.
“I’m writing on behalf of some very special girls in Afghanistan who are in grave danger,” Morello wrote in his letter. “[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 honour of collaborating with these wonderful kids. Since the Taliban takeover, their school has been destroyed and the girls are in hiding,” he added.
“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.”
According to Billboard, Cordola is currently in Pakistan, attempting to get his students out of Afghanistan.
He told the outlet that he is in the process of trying to get 12 girls, their families, and his driver out of the country “because their lives are in peril”.
“We’re trying to investigate if getting them to the Pakistan border is a possibility,” he said. “We’ve been talking to a lot of different people, rescue organisations. We need to get them out of Afghanistan to start a new life somewhere.”
People can support Cordola’s mission here.
