This song was inspired by the abandoned children of Syria, who, due to war are separated from their parents. According to statistics, there are over 10, 000 children in Europe, some as young as 3 months old, who are entirely alone.
This song 'When a child stands alone' seeks to create a sense of hope by inspiring the listener to connect to their hearts and draw forth empathy and humanity. It seeks to make the listener and the subject of the song (the children) into individuals, rather than simple statistics on a newsreel.
If we all find love in our hearts and a sense of the preciousness that each human life possesses, then situations that appear too global to apprehend become something that each of us, in our own way, can do something about. My hope is that, in writing this song, I inspire people to find their hope, their positive action and engage in some small individual act that will lift the lives of children.
So, it is ALL about creating hope and inspiration so that these children, or any disadvantaged child, can grow in beauty and peace.
I am a singer song writer from the UK, living in Scotland. I come from a musical background and work as a music teacher for children. My songs are inspired by a range of musical styles; early music, folk, world music and the subject matter is anything that touches my heart with a deeper meaning, a wish for change or beauty. I am also inspired by nature and the incredible beauty of Scotland, where I live. I am beginning to be inspired from a number of international folk in the music industry and am hoping that this will be the beginnings of a new journey. I wish for my songs to inspire the listener to reflect, engage with their hearts and allow a space for reflection or beauty in their lives.
Musician Abigail Rooley-Towle, from Scotland, is using her music to help World Citizen Artists to spread a message of peace. After hearing about the 27,000 orphans and missing children from the Syrian refugee crisis, she felt called to use her music to help them.
As she says, “Now, I could not rush out and be mummy to all those, but I knew I could write a song about it.” So, she orchestrated two fundraising opportunities to benefit World Citizen Artists and Rescue Global, an organization with a mission to “save life” in crisis areas. On 28 October and 4 November, Abigail hosted two concerts in Scotland in an effort to raise money for and awareness of these organisations.
Abigail says that she chose the two organizations because of the importance of public voices bringing attention to the issues of our common humanity to help bring out the best in every person. “I don’t know of any other artistic organisation that emphasizes solidarity, love, togetherness and working together for the common good in the way that W.C.A. does,” she says.
Through her events, Abigail was able to raise some funds for each organization, but more importantly, she got the word out there about World Citizen Artists and Rescue Global. “We had lovely feedback from the audience,” she shares, “who were generous to the causes on both evenings. They were very interested in the work of both charities.”
On top of that, she hoped to create positive ways to dealing with serious humanitarian issues, to change the entire idea behind contributing. Abigail says, “The thing I find most challenging when working with humanitarian causes is that often the message can be framed from a victim perspective. There needs to be a reframe: ‘What can we do right now that is positive and can be delivered to manifest positivity and change?’ Victim mentality creates more of the same energy and can perpetuate cycles. There is always something positive to be done in pretty much any situation.”