by guest contributor Janet Staihar
Photo credit: Dave Scavone
The young Aleppo refugee cradling a violin took to the stage at the 2016 Points of Light gala Thursday night at the German ambassador’s residence on Foxhall Road with these words: “It is a great occasion to thank the German ambassador for the huge help and support of Germany in welcoming hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees. Germany has given the world an example of humanity. There are not enough words to express our gratitude and appreciation.”
The 160 guests at the gala hosted by German Ambassador Peter Wittig and Mrs. Huberta von Voss-Wittig were then privileged to hear the classical music of Mariela Shaker, 26, a virtuoso violinist who was born in Aleppo and fled her country to escape the civil war.
Mariela Shaker
In her talk, she relived her young life:
“I was one of these young people in Syria whose dreams were demolished in the war. While I was in Aleppo, I was running under exploding bombs and shooting rockets to make my way into internet cafes in search of electricity and power to send my applications to universities all over the world. I was beyond happiness to hear that I got accepted with a full tuition scholarship to continue my music studies in Illinois. As I left Aleppo to catch my flight to the U.S., the bus trip to Lebanon took 17 hours. Over 50 checkpoints along the way. They thought my violin was a gun. It was a very dangerous way.”
Shaker started playing the violin at age 10 when she joined the Arabic Institute of Music in Aleppo. Her parents and brother remain in Aleppo. She has performed at a United Nations concert at the Kennedy Center and has been honored at the White House as a “champion of change” on refugee issues. She uses her music to raise awareness for the plight of the Syrian people.
Neil Bush, Tracy Hoover (Points of Light CEO), Kimberly Holder, Haley Kilpatrick, Eden Duncan-Smith, German Ambassador Peter Wittig and Mrs. Huberta von Voss-Wittig, & MC Paul Berry.
Neil Bush, chairman of the Points of Light board of directors, said: “By creating this annual awards event, Points of Light continues to lift up one of the legacies that is most important to my dad, and one that continues to have an enormous ripple effect in communities around the world.”
Points of Light was born in 1990 when President George H. W. Bush beckoned for a new “organization outside of the government to call on all Americans to engage in service and for leaders of other organizations to mobilize their members to serve.” It is now the world’s largest organization dedicated to volunteer service.
Ron Kaufman (left) who was in the President George H.W. Bush administration and Amb. C. Boyden Gray. Photo credit: Allison O’Brien
The evening also put the spotlight on three young women who work to make life better for others.
Actor and dancer Eden Duncan-Smith. A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Eden, 16, was honored for her efforts to promote universal equality and peace. Her many activities included organizing efforts in the Bring Back Our Girls initiative, when 276 girls were kidnapped from their school in Nigeria and forced into slavery by the Boko Haram. While still a pre-teen, she appeared in Tony Award-winning playwright August Wilson’s Fences and in the long-running The Lion King. Her godparents are R&B singer Lauryn Hill and Rohan Marley, son of Bob Marley, the reggae legend.
Neil Bush presents the awards Photo credit: Allison O’Brien
Kimberly Holder. She volunteers through New York Cares, a Points of Light affiliate, and the largest organization in New York City that mobilizes volunteers and serves more than 400,000 people in need. Over the last six years, Kimberly has worked on more than 145 projects serving a variety of residents in NYC – seniors at Lott Assisted Living; the homeless children at Clinton Family Inn. She is featured in the November issue of Good Housekeeping magazine in an article that celebrates inspiring women who volunteer.
Haley Kilpatrick. Founder and CEO of the national nonprofit organization Girl Talk Inc., which seeks to inspire all girls to develop the confidence to lead. She has been named one of Glamour Magazine’s “20 Young Women Changing the World Now,” and People Magazine’s “All-Star Among us.” He lives in Atlanta.Allison O’Brien
Mariela Shaker with The Ambassador of Germany
The event host committee included David Abney, Charles E. Agee III, Michelle Bengue and Lawrence E. Bathgate II, Jean Becker, Katie and Phil Brady, Trisha and Jim Cicconi, Jacqueline and Tom Collamore, Debbie and Alan Dunn, Sandy and Wally Ganzi/Palm Restaurants, Edwina and Tom Johnson, Anita and Tim McBride/United Technologies Corporation, Pam Norley and Donn Randall, Julie and Gregg Petersmeyer, and John Schmitz/Prime Policy Group.
