Thread by @latifnasser

Last year, a coworker randomly asked me to hand-deliver an antique violin across the country. I said yes, because why not. I had no idea what I was getting into, and now I need your help. A 🧵

Last May, I went to a work retreat in upstate NY and a sound designer on our show @Jeremy_s_Bloom pulled me aside and asked me to do him a favor.

@Jeremy_s_Bloom He had heard through a friend (@DerekBeckvold) about an Afghan violinist who had just escaped from Kabul and settled in LA (where I live). Problem was the guy had to leave his violin behind.

Jeremy had a beautiful 110-year-old violin in his closet he used to play.

Sweetheart that he is, Jeremy wanted to gift it to this stranger, but wouldn’t dare to just put it in the mail. Would I take it through security and as carry-on on my flight home to LA? I said sure. I took the violin.

When I got home, I tried to coordinate delivery with the guy via WhatsApp. Took weeks.
At one point he wrote ‘I’m at the Galleria Mall, bring it here now?’
I got irritated, thinking ‘I lugged this priceless gift here for you but to you it’s a random thing you pick up at a mall?’

We eventually found a time for the drop off. I pulled up to the house and he was waiting outside. Way younger than I expected. Mid 20s. Shy but clearly immensely grateful. Huge smile. As I talked to him I realized I TOTALLY misread him.

His name is Ali (aka @ALIESMAHI). He got to the US a few months prior under one of those Special Immigrant Visas. The reason he fled was because the Taliban DESPISES musicians, has even killed them in the past. The US government helped him get here but not much more.

@ALIESMAHI Ali told me he was TOTALLY ALONE in LA. Had no family or friends here. Lived in a tiny house with 4 roommates who mostly speak Spanish. (He doesn’t.) He had a phone, but no computer, no car, no money, few clothes besides what was on his back. Ate eggs for every meal.

The reason he was so hard to pin down for the drop off was because of his job. He worked part time and had no control over his hours. The reason he wanted to meet at the mall?

It’s where he worked. In the stockroom of a major clothing store. A little tablet told him what boxes to move and timed him. A physical, stressful, lonely job.

Ali initially wanted to pick the violin up from me directly. But his only real possession, an electric bike, had been stolen from the mall parking lot a few weeks before. The police were zero help.

He shrugged: “My welcome gift from America.”

I handed off his actual gift, the violin, but I couldn’t stop thinking about him. I invited him home for dinner a few nights later. When he came home, my wife and I cooked him a meal and he told us his story.

He was actually a celebrity in Afghanistan, the violinist for the on-screen backup band for their version of American Idol, Afghan Star. It was the number one show in the country. He did it for 5 seasons.

“Most people in Afghanistan know my face.”

In 2013 he even toured the US. Played Carnegie Hall in NYC (pictured), the Kennedy Centre in DC, the New England Conservatory in Boston.
He also toured East Africa.
But he always returned to Kabul. It was his home, where he loved to study & play music.

That all stopped when the Taliban took back over. He took all the musical instruments and sheet music in his house and burned it. He was about to burn his violin too, but stopped short. He just couldn’t bear to do it. So he hid it.

When it came time to escape, he was worried about getting stopped and searched at Taliban checkpoints so he left his violin behind.

Took him a year or so to get to the US. He barely played violin that whole time.

(Pics are of his "room" in a camp in Doha where he stayed)

After that dinner, we invited him over every week. Sometimes he'd show us old clips. Sometimes he’d bring his violin.

The first thing he played us: Despacito. (My 2 kids were a terrible audience. The 2yo covered his ears. The 5yo ran out of the room.🤦)

facebook.com/BamdadeKhosh/v…

We have managed to get him a few things: an immigration lawyer he can call, a laptop, some clothes, a few rounds of groceries, a few decent meals. He was here for his birthday. We watched him try a s’more for the first time. (He loved it, duh.)

In that time, he has done SO MUCH MORE by himself. Got a green card, a driver’s license, a bank account, a car. Got a more stable job at a big downtown hotel, @thebonaventure, as a food expediter, preparing room service trays. His bosses & coworkers treat him with dignity.

@thebonaventure That said, now he’s in a tricky spot.

On one hand, he is grateful for his job and sends every extra penny to his family in Kabul.

On the other, he still yearns to study @julliardschool or @BerkleeCollege or @necmusic, to be the next @Yanni or @PerlmanOfficial or @YoYo_Ma

We just celebrated his 1yr anniversary in the US.

To mark it, I wanted to tell his story and try to raise money for him. Not for basic needs, but for him to continue the violin lessons he had to stop for 2 years.

I want him to know the WORLD is rooting for him to make music

We are partnering with the nonprofit Teach to Learn, which also raises money for other Afghan musicians.

Donate here: teachtolearn.life/donate.html

(If you want your tax-deductible donation to go specifically to Ali, just write “for Ali” in the comments.)

We even found a matching donor, who pledged to donate dollar for dollar for the first $5,000 we raise. So chip in if you can!

And to bring things full circle. I’ll end with a video of Ali in my house playing the violin that Jeremy gave him!

Whew. END OF THREAD

UPDATE: Wow. Ali and I are gobsmacked. In one day, we blasted past our goal of money for his violin lessons. So we decided to up the goal to what he really wants: music school tuition money. Chip in if you can/want. Regardless, your gifts, your words, your love is life-affirming.