Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello is calling for help in getting a group of young female musicians to safety following the takeover of Kabul, Afghanistan's capital city.
"I'm writing on behalf of some very special girls in Afghanistan who are in grave danger," Morello said in an open letter to the music industry. The letter was sent to Billboard by former House of Lords member and guitar teacher Lanny Cordola, who founded the Girl with a Guitar music program in Kabul in 2015.
"[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," Morello continued in the letter.
"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 wrote. "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."
Girl with a Guitar is run through the non-profit Miraculous Love Kids. The program has allowed hundreds of students the opportunity to learn music remotely with help from people like Brian Wilson, Nick Cave and Blake Shelton.
Cordola is currently in Pakistan, attempting to arrange safe travel for 12 students, their families and his personal driver.
The students can be supported here.
See a video of Girl with a Guitar students performing a cover of Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams" below.
"I'm writing on behalf of some very special girls in Afghanistan who are in grave danger," Morello said in an open letter to the music industry. The letter was sent to Billboard by former House of Lords member and guitar teacher Lanny Cordola, who founded the Girl with a Guitar music program in Kabul in 2015.
"[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," Morello continued in the letter.
"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 wrote. "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."
Girl with a Guitar is run through the non-profit Miraculous Love Kids. The program has allowed hundreds of students the opportunity to learn music remotely with help from people like Brian Wilson, Nick Cave and Blake Shelton.
Cordola is currently in Pakistan, attempting to arrange safe travel for 12 students, their families and his personal driver.
The students can be supported here.
See a video of Girl with a Guitar students performing a cover of Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams" below.
