Music in the Service of Those Who Sorrow: The World Blind Union Extends a Helping Hand to the Blind of Ukraine
by Gary Wunder
Far too often for my liking, I find myself swinging between extremes: I must do something about the condition of the world; I can do nothing about the condition of the world. I absolutely must help this person; there is not a thing in the world that I can reasonably do to help this person. You can imagine the relief that came over me and probably many others when we realized that we did not have to stand idly by and watch as the blind of Ukraine suffered under the aggression of a Russian invasion. We could not be active combatants; we had no stage to host our persuasive arguments for peace. But we weren’t prohibited from taking action; in some measurable way, we could reach out to the blind people of Ukraine—be they in country or refugees—and say that we care enough to share; we live and therefore we give; we will trade apathy, indifference, and impotent rage for a more positive journey. We won’t stop our own fight simply because we can’t stop the world from fighting, and we won’t let the fact that we can’t throw back all the starfish in the sea prevent us from doing what we can.
Two articles follow this brief introduction. One is from the president of the World Blind Union, Martine Abel. She is in charge of the relief effort. The second is from Jonathan Mosen, perhaps the best-known voice of any blind person in the world. He brought the spirit, the technical expertise, and the track record of success that made this effort look doable, and doable it was. Of course, I am proud to be a part of our nation's contribution to the effort, made possible in large part by the active role played by our own National Federation of the Blind. We promoted the event, helped connect people, and gave our technical and financial expertise to collecting money both on the day of the concert and in the days following. Our Performing Arts Division helped by providing some of the musical talent that made the concert a sheer delight to attend, and, with enough prompting, we got our President to play his guitar and give us a song.
In this concert we were not the leaders, not the experts, but the facilitators. In that spirit, let me stop this introduction and let the real experts speak for themselves. Thank you to all who participated, not only for the people of Ukraine but for people like me who need a way to show that we believe, we care, and we act.