High-schooler’s historical perspective praised

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This article was published 13/06/2022 (1238 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Beausejour high schooler’s speech about the heart-wrenching parallels between the Holodomor and the ongoing war in Ukraine has received high praise from the judges of a public speaking competition.

Grade 9 student Kélia Haskins was awarded the top prize in her age group for her performance of “L’Ukraine” — an original speech the French immersion student wrote for a school assignment — during an annual contest held by the Manitoba chapter of Canadian Parents for French last month.

“My whole speech is about not letting history repeat itself,” Kélia said.

The 15-year-old said she is grateful for both the opportunity to educate others on the resilience of Ukrainian people and the recognition for her work, including a medal, $200 cheque and “bragging rights.”

In her 700-word address, which was delivered virtually, the ninth grader draws on stories that have been passed down from generations in her family to describe the horrors of the man-made famine that was engineered by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin.

Stalin’s policy decision to replace independent farms with state-controlled ones aimed to starve and disempower independent-minded Ukrainians. Upwards of four million people are estimated to have died during the Holodomor, also known as the Great Famine — the height of which spanned from 1932-33.

Kélia’s great-great grandmother immigrated to Canada in 1926, but she was not immune to the genocidal policy or resulting food insecurity.

“During her childhood, my great-great grandmother’s family always hid their vegetables and wheat. The Soviets, who are now the Russians, have a long history of trying to starve Ukrainians… It’s unbelievable that the suffering she experienced is now being felt by her descendants from Ukraine in 2022,” states a translated excerpt from Kélia’s French-language speech.

The speech details the senseless tragedies caused by past and present power-hungry politicians, but it also notes that this time around, Russia has not been able to censor its organized violence against Ukrainians, so the world is aware of what’s happening in eastern Europe.

Kélia’s teacher at École Edward Schreyer School tasked her class with preparing and memorizing oral presentations on any subject of their choice.

“The more that I learn about (Russia’s war on Ukraine), the more I want to be able to do,” Kélia said, adding she has felt both incredible sadness and helplessness in recent months.

“There’s not much I can do here, as a high school student in Canada. That’s one of the biggest reasons I chose to write this — to spread awareness.”

The ninth grader was among several students from her class who chose to enter the annual Concours D’art Oratoire competition. It took hours of practising alone in her room to memorize the speech for the provincial contest, Kélia said.

(Kélia won the Grade 9-10 provincial CPF event, but she is not moving on to the Canada-wide competition because it is only for Grade 11 and 12 students.)

Mother Andrea Thibault said she is proud of her daughter for showing an interest in her Ukrainian roots and recognizing the current tragedy for what it is.

“It’s very heartwarming when your children show interest in family history and see the parallels of how if we’re not careful, this stuff repeats itself,” Thibault said.

Kélia said her hope is that her presentation equipped her audiences with knowledge about Ukraine’s history of fighting for independence and encouraged listeners to be open-minded.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie