SAVE AFGHAN SUFIS
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Summary
Sound Central a non-profit that worked in Afghanistan with Afghan musicians between 2006-2014, in conjunction with Development Now Initiative [also worked in Afghanistan] needs your support to resettle 7 members of a highly specialized and unique group of Sufi whirling dervishes. All funds raised will assist them in starting new lives where they are safe and their art is celebrated. Together Travis Beard [Sound Central] and Mark Smith [DNI] have already raised over $US65,000 for other Afghan musicians. We have is assisted 38 Afghans to get out to the West. We have another 50 odd surviving in Pakistan. And 70+ inside Afghanistan. This new campaign is tailored specifically for the minority SUFI community stuck in Afghanistan.
Sound Central a non-profit that worked in Afghanistan with Afghan musicians between 2006-2014, in conjunction with Development Now Initiative [also worked in Afghanistan] needs your support to resettle 7 members of a highly specialized and unique group of Sufi whirling dervishes. All funds raised will assist them in starting new lives where they are safe and their art is celebrated. Together Travis Beard [Sound Central] and Mark Smith [DNI] have already raised over $US65,000 for other Afghan musicians. We have is assisted 38 Afghans to get out to the West. We have another 50 odd surviving in Pakistan. And 70+ inside Afghanistan. This new campaign is tailored specifically for the minority SUFI community stuck in Afghanistan.
"I first time saw whirling Dervishes was in Turkey in the 90s. I was enchanted by the dance and memorized by the music. More than 20 years later, while working on saving Afghan musicians, they came into my life again, but this time there was an opportunity to help them. I jumped straight in, set up a separate campaign just for them!" Travis Beard - Sound Central Founder
Beneficiaries and Assistance
Sound Central is currently helping 7 Whirling Dervishes [and their families]. All of them are consummate performers having been for-hire at cultural and social events as well as religious students of Sufi traditions. As a troupe, their art as well as their sense of community is both awe-inspiring mesmerizing. With the $2500 we have raised so far, we have sent care packages to each family to assist them through the harsh winter period that Afghanistan is notorious for. This package will help them purchase firewood, food and basic supplies to keep the family warm, fed and dry.
Sound Central estimates that $4000 USD per musician would allow us to get them transportation through commercial flights and resettlement assistance. The money that we raise will pay our lawyers to process their refugee visas; cover their flight costs (if the 2nd country is not flying them at their own costs); pay for living expenses while they wait for visas to be granted; and, of course, provide a stipend for them once they have arrived in that 2nd country to carry them over until local charities take them in. The total budget of this project is indicative of how many musicians you can help us save.
The most immediate need for financial assistance is for Sound Central’s funding to cover visas fees, legal fees, and resettlement costs. Afterwards, SC will help find scholarships, placement support and mentorship for musicians in their final countries. Ultimately a resilient NGO like Sound Central can act as a collective platform for these musicians to stay together, advocate and activate in their new homes.
Sound Central is currently helping 7 Whirling Dervishes [and their families]. All of them are consummate performers having been for-hire at cultural and social events as well as religious students of Sufi traditions. As a troupe, their art as well as their sense of community is both awe-inspiring mesmerizing. With the $2500 we have raised so far, we have sent care packages to each family to assist them through the harsh winter period that Afghanistan is notorious for. This package will help them purchase firewood, food and basic supplies to keep the family warm, fed and dry.
Sound Central estimates that $4000 USD per musician would allow us to get them transportation through commercial flights and resettlement assistance. The money that we raise will pay our lawyers to process their refugee visas; cover their flight costs (if the 2nd country is not flying them at their own costs); pay for living expenses while they wait for visas to be granted; and, of course, provide a stipend for them once they have arrived in that 2nd country to carry them over until local charities take them in. The total budget of this project is indicative of how many musicians you can help us save.
The most immediate need for financial assistance is for Sound Central’s funding to cover visas fees, legal fees, and resettlement costs. Afterwards, SC will help find scholarships, placement support and mentorship for musicians in their final countries. Ultimately a resilient NGO like Sound Central can act as a collective platform for these musicians to stay together, advocate and activate in their new homes.
Context:
The 15th of August 2021 marked the beginning of a campaign to disenfranchise thousands of artists and cause widespread panic among creatives. Their choices were stark: either they abandon their creative ambitions or conform to the new regime’s ideology.
Whilst some chose to go underground into hiding, most choose to seek asylum and a right to remain creative even at the cost of leaving their beloved homeland. The artists who missed the small window of opportunity to evacuate now fear identification and persecution.
This flourishing music scene of the last 20 years looks like it could imminently fall completely silent. On the 2nd of October, the Ministry of Vice and Virtue release a statement that music is to be banned in wedding halls (a principle place of music celebration). Three months after the change in government, at least FIVE people have been killed for music-related-crimes.
“The current situation of Afghanistan does not give us the right to live and breathe. Sufism is hanged here, but we must fight to reach our goals until we breathe” Hamid [pseudonym], SUFI hiding out in Afghanistan
Sound Central is a grassroots group of expats that lived in and were involved in the local music scene. The Sound Central festival ran for three years (2011-2013) on a combined budget of $US 408,000 funded by 10 embassies: the United States of America (USA), Switzerland, Australia, Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Canada, Estonia, the United Kingdom, France and Poland.
From 2011-2013, the festival successfully hosted several multi-day festivals and smaller events that were attended by more than 5,000 people, introducing youth to a range of traditional and alternative music via 65 local and international artists from Australia, France, UK, USA, Sweden, Mexico, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Iran, Poland and Uzbekistan. The festival events transpired into the documentary Rockabul, which has screened at over 50 film festivals globally.
Hundreds of women attended on the women-only days (2012-2013) and actively participated in workshops and mentoring opportunities. The festival nurtured other art forms too, including poetry, graffiti, painting, dance, photography, circus performance, and skateboarding. The result of this has been an increase in creativity across boundaries along with a new wave of innovative youth programs. Sound Central Festival was forced to stop its program in 2014 after a suicide bomber attacked the French Culture Centre while a theatre show was underway.
Getting the Band back together:
After the fall of the previous government, our festival team put out a call to action and within hours we had a small but effective virtual operations room that focused on resettling musicians, festival staff and their families. Our fiscal sponsor is Development Now Initiatives. DNI is a registered 501c3 Non-Profit. Subsequently Sound Central has partnered with Kindle Project, Freemuse, Prime Counsel, No Easy Props, Fortini Lang Law and Azadi Charity.
In the last five months of operating this grassroots organization, we have connected with many musical communities who have reached out to us for assistance. The Sufi community was one of these and after verifying their community, we commenced work on this new campaign.
What is Sufism:
Sufism is variously defined as "Islamic mysticism", "the mystical expression of Islamic faith", "the inward dimension of Islam", or "the phenomenon of mysticism within Islam". Sufism began very early in Islamic history and represents the main manifestation and the most important and central crystallization of mystical practice in Islam. Practitioners of Sufism are referred to as Sufis.
The community of Sufis we are tracking has a history of close to 1300 years. Unfortunately, as with many Sufi communities that have lived in the midst of more orthodox regimes, they cannot practice their faith openly for fear of punishment ranging from flogging to execution.
“For Sufi dervishes, Sama dance is love, life, and breathing. Accepting all threats and ideological insults, we have revived this ancient Sufi value and heritage after centuries. Gradually, we have made it to be accepted in the society.”
Zia [pseudonym], SUFI hiding out in Afghanistan
Zia [pseudonym], SUFI hiding out in Afghanistan
Organizer
Mark Smith
Organizer
New York, NY
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