Holodomor Candle Lighting Ceremony Held at Toronto School

Holodomor National Awareness Tour.

The Holodomor National Awareness Tour (HNAT) together with the Ukrainian World Congress held a candle lighting ceremony in remembrance of the innocent victims of the genocidal policy of the Stalin regime, known as the Holodomor, September 21.

The ceremony took place at Chaminade College School in Toronto during the Holodomor Mobile Classroom’s visit to the school. This candle lighting event is part of a global initiative by the Ukrainian World Congress to commemorate the victims of the Holodomor and will culminate an 85-day journey across five continents on November 24th, 2018, International Holodomor Memorial Day in Kyiv, Ukraine.

The commemoration at Chaminade College School included prayers in memory of the millions of people who died during the Holodomor, an excerpt from a Holodomor survivor and the lighting of a candle in memory of the millions who died during the famine-genocide of 1932-1933, the Holodomor.

Tony Augello, principal of Chaminade College School said “It’s important to respect and honor the people who suffered and died during the Holodomor genocide and to take steps to prevent it from happening again. It’s up to our students to be responsible citizens and become discerning future leaders in our world today.”

Andrii Veselovskyi, Consul General of Ukraine in Toronto added “Understanding a horrific past will help build a rightful future”.

Olga Kunyckyj, a teacher at the school who organized the school’s participation in today’s event said “I am very proud that Chaminade College High School has been a part of the international campaign during which a candle was lit in the remembrance of Holodomor victims. We are glad to have had this opportunity for our community to honour and respect victims of this genocide. Furthermore, this campaign gave an opportunity to our community to learn about social justice, human rights and value of human life, ensuring that such a tragedy does not repeat itself. Thank you to all the organizers and mostly our students, staff and administration in making this possible.”

Following the commemorative candle lighting ceremony, the Holodomor National Awareness Tour conducted 4 one-hour interactive lessons for students of Chaminade College School about the Holodomor and its relevance to the world today, on board its Holodomor Mobile Classroom (HMC).

The Holodomor National Awareness Tour is a project of the Canada-Ukraine Foundation that operates a state-of-the art interactive audio-visual learning centre, Holodomor Mobile Classroom, geared to high schools, universities and the public. It educates Canadian students, community leaders and the public about the horrific events of the Holodomor Famine-Genocide in Ukraine 1932-33, and its relevance to the world today.

The Canada-Ukraine Foundation and the Holodomor National Awareness Tour have received two grants totalling approximately $3 million from the Government of Canada, Ministry of Canadian Heritage since the inception of the Holodomor National Awareness Tour in 2015. This year a $750,000 grant was received from the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF), an agency of the Government of Ontario, one of Canada’s largest granting foundations. With a budget of over $136 million, OTF awards grants to some 1,000 projects every year to build healthy and vibrant Ontario communities.

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