Help Methal Study Music at Berklee

I am a young aspiring female musician who started my career in 2011 during the outbreak of the Arab Spring in Yemen.

I was one of the first women in my generation to perform music in front of a mixed-gender audience.

Before I chose music, I was living in a small city called Hodaidah. I then moved to Sana’a to study medicine in 2009, where I started learning to play guitar through Youtube tutorials.

I always dreamed of studying music. But, I was not allowed to choose music as a career because society doesn't support women to pursue music, and because music is considered a low-class activity in Yemen. I had to teach myself how to play instruments.

When I was playing music in Yemen, I faced a lot of criticism and threats from people telling me to stop. I eventually did after a lot of pressure on my family by society. At the end of 2014, I decided to leave Yemen and went to Djibouti to play music and follow my passion.


Another dream was always to study music at Berklee. I used to spend my time taking online courses while I was traveling to learn more about music. I've always dreamed of studying music in the U.S., but when the Trump ban came into effect, I felt like all my dreams shattered. I was not able to play in my country and not able to study in the U.S. I felt rejected.

This summer, Spotify asked me to come to Toronto to collaborate on a new track with Sam Harris from X Ambassadors, to show that when people can’t travel, music will. The song, “Cycles,” has over 1 million streams on Spotify, and you can watch I’m with the banned, a documentary about my experience, here . 


This fall, I have been accepted to Berklee and in order to be able to travel to and live in Boston I need to afford it, which will cost about $40,000 USD each year room and board, laptop, books, travel, miscellaneous expenses, and health insurance per year. I’m raising money in CAD and asking for $90,000 CAD – which will cover 2 years of school with current conversion rates.

Thank you for helping me achieve my dreams.