Sadie's Abuse Awareness Event

So Sadie's Second Annual Abuse Awareness Event was on the weekend, in Hamilton. As with last year, I performed folk/acoustic rock songs with Sadie (Lindsay Miller) and her friends/family, while many others close to her raised awareness to people about the prevalence of child abuse, and what to do about it.

This time, we had an additional benefit in that (another) one of Lindsay's friends is a YouTube podcaster, and she did a live show from her laptop as we were busking. Her YouTube channel, for those who are interested, is www.youtube.com/ravenwolfgang1969.

As for my part in it, I was the second musician to play, after Lindz's brother Robert. I played every song of my set, as well as a few extras that I'd pulled out of my hat when it got quiet, and I joined in -- or tried to -- on some of the Sadie songs. While I carried most of my songs alone this time -- due to many of them being either originals or simply a bit obscure -- a definite highlight was being joined on harmonies by Lindz, Rob Barnes, and Haley Arnott on "What I'm Looking For" and "Behind Blue Eyes" (especially since they just heard what I was playing and jumped in! ).

So if anyone's wondering, here's what else I played (and recordings of most of these, can be found on my "band" page, www.reverbnation.com/sonicsnafu).

1. "All Along The Watchtower" (Bob Dylan cover, made most famous by Hendrix, and thought by Rob to be a Nirvana song, haha)
2. "Hammer To Fall" (Queen cover)
3. "Do You Know?" (original, written in part for last year's event, because of some friends of mine having been beaten by friends/loved ones recently)
4. "Friends Without Benefits" (original, written about a complicated friendship that was emotionally abusive)
5. "(I Still Haven't Found) What I'm Looking For" (U2 cover)
6. "Behind Blue Eyes" (Who cover, which was very well received when I played it last year)
7. "The House of the Rising Sun" (traditional folk song, again a popular part of my set)
8. "Lost In Time" (instrumental original -- filler as Sadie readied for her set)
9. "Woe, Canada" (original -- played instrumentally, given the context of the event)
10. "Nights in White Satin" (Moody Blues cover -- just as ignored this year, as last, lol).

Anyway, even though it was quiet for some stretches, and it wasn't the best weather we had, by all accounts we did get some word out. I truly cannot say enough about Lindsay's courage and dedication, as well as that of her friends, family and other volunteers -- many of whom have been assaulted at one point or another. Frankly, I can get traumatized enough just going through a bad break-up, so how these people manage to get themselves back together -- AND make something positive out of such horrible events -- is incredibly inspiring. Hopefully that planted a good seed.

Think of the Children

Sexual abuse is nothing less than a world wide plague, happening in every country, regardless of gender, social class, religion, or -- worst of all -- age. According to recent statistics, 1 in 4 girls, and 1 in 6 boys, is sexually assaulted before they turn 18. This is one of the reasons why April is National Child Abuse Awareness month in Canada, as well as Sexual Assault Awareness and Prevention month. In Hamilton, I'm involved in a homegrown event to spread awareness of support groups and hotline numbers, simply called the Child and Sexual Abuse Awareness Event.

It will be held on April 25th, from 12:30 to 5:00 pm at the corner of King St and James in Downtown Hamilton. In other words, it's the entrance to Jackson Square, closest to Gore Park. What we're doing is collecting and re-distributing pamphlets and phone numbers to support services in the Hamilton area, so we won't be taking donations -- save those for the actual shelters and clinics, please.

It's also a busking event -- sort of a small scale benefit concert -- so if you're a poet, singer, or musician, by all means come on down and get people's attention. And boy do we ever need to...

According to the most recent stats I can find, the median age for a sexual abuse survivor, is just 9 years old. Nearly all are abused by someone who they know and trust -- as many as 40% by a family member. It also happens a lot more than you might think -- it's estimated that in this part of the world alone, there are about 40 million childhood sexual abuse survivors. Think about that: not only is every fourth or fifth kid in public school being raped by a close friend or family member, but altogether you can fill an average sized country with the number of kids being preyed on -- no, make that betrayed and shattered.

It really is something of a miracle that any of these kids can get themselves back together after something that horrible, and without help, the odds are definitely against them; children who have been sexually assaulted are much more likely later in life to become severely depressed, permanently traumatized, develop eating disorders, lash out, get hooked on booze or drugs, attempt or commit suicide, or worst of all, become abusers themselves.

Finally, I really really hope this goes without saying, but if you have any solid reason to believe that a child is being abused, report it to the police immediately. Most sexual offenders have up to 9 victims, others have 40 or more. It has been said by some, that the average molester may have as many as 400 victims in his or her lifetime. Speak out for them -- you may be surprised at how many of them are children you see every day as you go to work.

So, if you want to contribute to this, please e-mail Lindsay of The Sadie Project, at thesadieproject@gmail.com, or just drop by the corner of King and James in Hamilton, on the afternoon of April 25. Once again, don't worry about donations, just bring whatever information you can so we can then get it out to the people who need it. That's it for me.