My name is Danial and I am an Iranian student living alone in Tilburg, the Netherlands. I study Classical Composition at Fontys University of Applied Sciences — and music is not just what I study. It is who I am.

I moved to the Netherlands two years ago to pursue my dream of becoming a full-time composer. I was building something real. When the war began, it didn't destroy my situation overnight — it finished what had already been breaking for years. The Iranian economy had been collapsing long before the bombs fell, crushed by sanctions, mismanagement, and corruption. My family had been struggling to support me for months. The war simply took away the last of what remained — the internet went dark, transfers became impossible, and the silence began.

When the bombs started falling, the Iranian government shut down the internet entirely. My family went silent. Days passed with no word. Then I saw the news — a house on the same street as my family had been struck. I sat alone in my room in Tilburg, thousands of kilometres away, with no way to know if the people I love were alive.

It took a full day before I received a text message telling me they were safe.

That is the world I am living in right now. I can only reach my family once or twice every two days by text message. They cannot send me money — the Iranian economy has collapsed and international transfers are impossible. I am completely alone here, working part-time and earning €800 a month — barely enough for rent and food.

I have been unable to pay my tuition fees since December 2025. I now owe €11,500. If I cannot pay, I will lose my place at Fontys. And if I lose my place at Fontys, I cannot return to Iran — I have been politically active here in the Netherlands, and going back would put my safety at serious risk.

Losing my studies would not just mean losing a degree. It would mean the end of my musical journey. Every composition I have written, every hour I have spent studying the craft I love — gone. Not because I gave up.

I have tried every official channel available to me — UAF, VluchtelingenWerk Nederland, the Dutch Ministry of Education, my local MP, two Members of the European Parliament, Amnesty International, and my university. No solution has been found.

So I am asking you directly.

I do not want sympathy. I want to finish my degree. I want to keep composing music. I want to prove that a person caught in a war beyond their control can still build something beautiful.

If you believe that too — please help me.

Every donation, no matter how small, keeps my music alive. Thank you.

Goal: €11,500