Long Island girl uses power of music to help raise money for Ukrainian violin maker
ROSLYN, N.Y. -- As the war in Ukraine continues to ravage the country, some hope is going a long way.
Music is helping connect strangers and build unique bonds.
"I want people to see how unfair it is," said 11-year-old Nadia Sayed, of Roslyn, Long Island. "I want people to actually try and help."
The young violinist is nearly 5,000 miles away from Ukraine, but she tells CBS2's John Dias she developed a strong bond with a man, who was once a stranger to her family, that is stronger than the strings on any violin.
"He is a Ukrainian luthier and his name is Oleksandr Smykovskyi" said Sayed. "He fled with just a backpack and the clothes he was wearing."
The violin maker lost almost everything in an instant when Russians bombed his town, destroying his violin shop.
Sayed and her mother read about it in an online music magazine.
"I just saw it in her, like oh my goodness, what do you mean, what is he going to do?" Sayed's mom, Aruna Talapatra, said. "What can we do? Can we help him?"
So the two connected with Oleksandr and started up a GoFundMe page for him. In almost a year, they have raised close to $20,000.
"Making a violin is not easy. So we understand how much goes into it," said Talapatra. "There is a person who spent his whole life perfecting something, and then it's all destroyed, it's all taken away."
Oleksandr says he's forever grateful and Sayed's kindness gives him hope for a better tomorrow.
"Her help is making a real difference in my life," said Oleksandr. "It's truly humbling to know that someone as young as Nadia can demonstrate such compassion and empathy for someone you have never met. Then, I realized our love of music sounded like a single tuning fork in our hearts."
Sayed couldn't agree more.
"I think we are really connected through the strings," she said.
