Kabul is days away from falling into the hands of the Taliban. When the airport falls, so will hope. I need help rescuing three photojournalists, one with his family before the Taliban take the airport.
In the last 18 years, we have benefitted from the brave journalism of Afghanistan's top photojournalists. Their work has appeared in publications such as the Associated Press, the AFP, National Geographic, the Washington Post, the New York Times, among countless others. In a generation consumed by images, and media, the bylines often are forgotten about.
One thing is for certain, the Taliban have not forgotten. In the past 18 years, they have kept track of those bylines and have recently started to deliver written warnings to these journalists informing them of their intent to permanently silence their ability to tell the real story of Afghanistan.
If you are reading this, from my social media account, you already know who I am. I am not from Afghanistan. My name is Glenn Luther, I am an American living just outside Washington D.C. I went to Afghanistan after 9/11 and helped to start the first school of photojournalism in Afghanistan. (You can read about my story and background here: http://glennluther.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/ksu_luther.pdf.) The people I am hoping to rescue are my former students.
Their cameras have told the story of Afghanistan for the past 18 years. They are activists for the freedom of the press, women's rights, and have won numerous global awards such as the esteemed Pulitzer Prize. But right now, they need your help.
Today, they are trapped inside Kabul without the ability to afford visas or a plane ticket to safety. The Taliban have cut off all other exists as they are surrounding the city. We are their last hope.
Plane ticket prices have jumped from $200 a ticket to $2-4,000 a ticket. When the average salary in Afghanistan is less than $3 a day, the cost to escape has moved beyond their reach, but not ours. Help me show them compassion and humanity. Help me save the stories behind the last 18 years before the Taliban take Kabul, and we lose everything.
100% of the proceeds with go to their visas and plane tickets. Anything left over will go to them to help them afford to start over in a new country. I want nothing but to save a few people who mean the world to me. In a few months, the Taliban will again run Afghanistan and the only storytellers left to help us all understand what the free and democratic Afghanistan was like, are huddled in their homes, praying for freedom. Help me save them from the Taliban.