"I am currently helping four Afghan families — former students and colleagues of the Afghan arts and human rights world — to find safe passage out of Afghanistan… They are under direct threat, have fled their homes already. They worked on such issues as ending hymen/virginity testing on girls, getting legal aid to women and families, and documenting mass grave sites,” noted an appeal from Emmy winning writer, cultural activist and participatory theater trainer Kayhan Irani circulated by the Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America on September 7, 2021. She is seeking volunteers "with experience in immigration, international resettlement, or with patience and aptitude to navigate multiple bureaucracies… Only those with open hearts and strong backs needed!”
Kayhan Irani (top) interacting with Afghans for "a better tomorrow"
Having worked in Afghanistan from 2010 to 2015 training theater groups and grassroots, nongovernmental organization workers using "participatory storytelling as a method of community building, reconciliation and deep dialog on issues that concern them,” Irani notes on her website artivista.org, "I now count myself as extended family to many of my colleagues. I will not disparage the lives, work, culture and spirit of Afghans who have poured their hearts into creating a better tomorrow for all who call Afghanistan home.” She believes that North Americans are in a "position to offer a safe haven to others. We now control that ‘bowl of milk,’ one in which the emissaries of the new land say to the refugees: ‘Drink, nourish yourself and build your home with us.’”
Of the four families she is seeking to assist, two are in Kabul, one is in Jalalabad, and another couple has crossed over to Quetta, Pakistan. Knowing that plane evacuations may not manifest soon, getting them across land borders seems to be the only solution. "Once across a border, pickups and safe passage to a temporary home must be arranged. This cannot happen via Air BnB, it has to come through trusted hands. Are you in India or Pakistan or have close trusted connections there who are willing to help? We already have an amazing caravan of theater workers in Pakistan working in solidarity across various cities,” she stated. To get people into visa and resettlement programs they qualify for, fees will need to be paid for which she is collecting funds. Those who can render assistance can reach the New York resident by email
kayhan@artivista.org or on her phone 01 9173633481.
Actively engaged in social justice issues, five years ago she was among the 10 artistes named by President Barack Obama’s White House as a Champion of Change (see "Champion of Change,” Zoroastrians Abroad, Parsiana, June 21, 2016). As she had then conveyed to Parsiana, "The tenets of the Zoroastrian religion spur me to fight for justice and to use my talents to ensure that no human being is marginalized or left out of society. I am grateful to have had my monthly religious classes (conducted by the Zoroastrian Association of Greater New York) as a child as I not only learned about the human struggle for righteousness via a spiritual path but I also learned about the history of the Persian empire, the cultural, technological, philosophical and historical significance of my people.”
In 2012-13 she was a Fulbright-Nehru Senior Researcher in India studying Parsi embroidery for her play Tree of Seeds. Currently she is immersed in a digital narrative There is a Portal that reimagines belonging, place and human connection in a shattered world through the story of an Iranian-Indian immigrant officer. Over the years her efforts have been supported by the BBC World Service Trust, The US Environmental Protection Agency, Bronx Council for the Arts, the New York Foundation for the Arts, The NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, The National Parks Service and the American Society for Muslim Advancement winning coverage in leading New York dailies, according to her website.
She urged those in the US to call their Congress senator or House member and prevail on them to expand the evacuation, resettlement and visa programs for Afghan nationals or sign a petition "Afghans for a New Tomorrow.” She is convinced, "Thousands of micro-movements can dig channels of freedom… We mustn’t give up hope. People to people connections are small but mighty.”