Author: Marsha

The Toronto District School Board has decided to not include the Ukrainian Famine (Holodomor) in their Genocide Studies course.

Here is the committee report.

They do acknowledge that the Holodomor killed more people than the three included genocides combined and that they will review their decision in the future. I think one huge concern is the review committee itself. The three committee members’ expertise is slanted in favour of the genocides chosen. The committee should be more representative.

Another problem with the three genocides that they’ve chosen is that anti-Islamic bias could be intensified because of them. Depending on how the Armenian genocide is taught, this could be the case. Care must be taken to point out that the 15% of Armenians who survived the genocide were saved by Muslims — who risked their own lives to do so. We must acknowledge the Muslim heroes while at the same time acknowledging the genocide.

The Holocaust is the only genocide that every student already knows about. Having it on this course is not necessary. An in-depth course should focus on what has not yet been taught. I can’t think of a better way to do this than to include a genocide that killed upwards of 10 million people, yet no one seems to know about.

Something else that the course is entirely missing is self-reflection. All of the genocides on the course are about things that happened somewhere else, where Canada has no role or culpability. Our treatment of First Nations people should be on the course for that reason. But also, the Holodomor should be on for that reason. After all, the fact of the Holodomor was successfully suppressed in this country because Canada was allied with Stalin during WWII. We had to pretend that he was a good guy. Otherwise how could we align ourselves with the biggest mass-murderer of the 20th century? Had Canada been allied with Hilter during WWII, would we be eager to teach Holocaust studies? So if the point of genocide studies is to increase self-awareness and reflection, the Holodomor must be taught. Otherwise, it’s just another exercise of us vs them.

My grandfather, George Forchuk (Yurij Feschuk) was imprisoned at Jasper Internment Camp during World War I. He wasn’t interned for doing something wrong. He was interned for being Ukrainian. The conditions at the camp were so brutal that he escaped as bullets whizzed past his ears. He went into hiding, changing his name from Yurij Feschuk to George Forchuk. When the war ended, he went back to his homestead, but it was his no more. It had been given to another family. So penniless and broken, he had to start anew. It took him three decades to recoup his loss.

My grandfather’s heartbreak was just one of many. 80,000 immigrants were branded “enemy aliens” during WWI and had to carry papers and report regularly to the police. 8,000 immigrants were unjustly interned, including women, children and even babies born in Canada.

Today, the Honourable Jason Kenney, Secretary of State (Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity) signed an agreement with the Ukrainian Canadian community for a 10 million dollar endowment to the Shevchenko Foundation. This endowment will be made available in perpetuity to support educational and research projects about WWI internment.

Kudos to UCCLA, UCC and the Shevchenko Foundation for their dogged negotiations.

Huge thanks to Inky Mark, whose independent member’s bill C-331, got the whole thing rolling.

Congratulations to Prime Minister Harper, Jason Kenney, and the Conservative government for doing the right thing.

I have had the good fortune to visit many hundreds of schools over the last years. Being able to meet so many of my readers is one of the best things about being an author.

This past Wednesday’s visit to Ramer Wood Public School was awesome. The night before the visit, teacher-librarian extraordinaire Deborah Jestin, emailed me detailed driving directions to her school, and she gave me emergency contact phone numbers.

As soon as I pulled up, I knew exactly which door to enter because it was decorated with a giant door-sized welcome sign. When I got in, there was big display about my books outside of the library, and a banner above the speaker’s pit inside the library.

Deb invited a local journalist who took photos and sat in on my talks, and everything that I had asked for — a table, chair, globe and bottle of water — was in place.

Deb also borrowed a bunch of my books from the Markham Public Library so I could autograph them. What a great idea! She also gathered up as many books of mine as she could from her own school, and I signed those as well.

When the students filed in for the first session, I was immediately impressed because their teacher and Deb had obviously familiarized them with my writing and also my biography. The students were attentive and enthusiastic and their questions were well thought out. The teachers sat in on the talks and they listened as attentively as their students. That in itself is such great patterning!

After the last session, Deb asked me to sit in the audience. I did, and a group of students gathered in the presentation pit. They each had a letter from my name and they arranged themselves to spell it out. And then they each read what their letter stood for. It was lovely!

Deb had forgotten to bring in the invoice I had emailed the night before, and I hadn’t brought a paper copy of it, but this wasn’t enough to stop her from paying me before I left. We tallied it up anew and she had the office cut the cheque.

It’s the small attentive details that all add up to a wonderful visit. And the people who benefit the most are the students themselves. Thank you, Deborah!

How does a brand new author get experience? Ten years ago, I was petrified at the thought of doing school visits. I had the notion that a visit was supposed to be a reading. Ie — standing up in front of kids and actually reading. This works with picture books, and ten years ago, I only had two picture books published — no novels.

Then Barbara Haworth Attard suggested that I sit in on one of her school presentations. What an eye-opener that was! She interacted with the students and shared samples of various drafts of her work. She told them about how she did her research and where she got her ideas. I think she may have done a very brief reading. The kids were enthralled and so was I.

I totally revamped the way that I did presentations. They became more fun for me and they also were more entertaining for the students. The change came just in time too, because my first novel, The Hunger, came out the next year. Between 1999 and 2003, I had three YA novels published, so all at once I began doing a lot of presentations to older elementary students and high school students. I absolutely love presenting to this age group.

When writing a story, the author must help the reader step into the shoes of the main character. When doing a school presentation, the author must step into the shoes of each person in the audience. It takes practice and it takes honing, but boy is it worth it.

I will do a brief reading from one of my books if requested. I have a favourite scene from each of my older three YAs. I’m hoping to find the perfect scene from Daughter of War. If you’ve read it and have an opinion about this, let me know.

In my just-released novel, Daughter of War, Kevork survives the deportations into the desert because he is adopted by an Arab clan. He is tattooed with distinctive blue dots. Later on, this distinctive tattoo helps him blend in while he is doing underground relief work to help save other Armenians.

Both Marta and Mariam survive by being taken in to Turkish homes and living as Muslim women.

Here is an online exhibit with some stunning photographs about some of the real people behind the story of Daughter of War.

My dear mother-in-law died in February. She led a rich and varied life and she was a beautiful person, both inside and out.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Cat Heaven, producer

Tel: 905-877-3422 (Studio)

Website: www.georgetownlittletheatre.ca

GEORGETOWN LITTLE THEATRE YOUTH GROUP BRINGS LOCAL HISTORY TO THE STAGE

Story of The Georgetown Boys performed by Halton area youth

From May 1 to May 10, 2008, the Georgetown Little Theatre Youth Company (GLTYC) will be staging an original production called The Georgetown Boys.

The GLTYC is proud to present this original theatrical production based upon the stories written by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch and adapted for the stage by Sam Hancock. The two-week run of the production will take place at the GLT studio in Stewarttown from May 1 to 10, 2008, with a special one-night-only Gala Performance at the John Elliot Theatre on May 14, 2008.

This production is indicative of the growth of the Youth Company over the past five years. The young cast and crew are thrilled to be a part of this unique event.

Based on two books by award-winning author Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch, Aram’s Choice (available in stores now) and Call Me Aram (to be released in fall 2008), The Georgetown Boys was adapted for the stage and directed by local Georgetown resident, Sam Hancock. Sam has directed many productions since graduating from Guelph University’s theatre program. Sam’s plays have won audience awards and have been staged in Toronto, New York and San Francisco.

Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch is the author of many books for children, including Silver Threads and Enough as well as her YA novels, Hope’s War, The Hunger and Nobody’s Child, which was nominated for the Red Maple Award, the Alberta Rocky Mountain Book Award, and the B.C. Stellar Award. Daughter of War, which continues the story of Nobody’s Child and The Hunger, will be newly launched at this time.

In 1923, 110 young Armenian boys, aged 8-12, were brought to Canada to live on Cedar Vale Farm in Georgetown where they were trained in farming with the aim of becoming Canadian farmers. The Georgetown Boys documents a significant moment in the history of Georgetown and Canada. It was “Canada’s noble experiment” – Canada’s first international humanitarian effort. Many of these orphans grew up and settled in Southern Ontario, reuniting with their friends as often as they could, forming a tight-knit community that continues to this day among their descendants.

The Georgetown Little Theatre is proud to support the efforts of the Youth Company. There are 24 performers in this production with as many, if not more, adult and youth volunteers helping backstage. Organizing and rallying this large troupe of theatre artists is Cat Heaven, Sue Bryan and Kay d’Entremont who have been the guiding force behind the GLTYC since it’s inception in 2003. Each year the company produces a fall one-act play festival, with plays written and directed by Youth Company members, and one full-length production each spring. Past spring productions have included “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe”, “The Insect Play”, “Dark of the Moon” and “Midsummer’s Night Dream.”

The performances will take place at the Georgetown Little Theatre in Stewarttown, Ontario. To purchase tickets, please call 905-977-3422. Tickets are $10.

The GLT Studio is located at 32 Stewarttown Road, Georgetown, Ontario:

Performance Dates and Times

Thursday, May 1 – 8:00pm

Friday, May 2 – 8:00pm

Saturday, May 3 – 2:00pm

Sunday, May 4 – 2:00pm

Wednesday, May 7, 8:00pm

Thursday, May 8, 8:00pm

Friday, May 9, 8:00pm

Saturday, May 10, 2:00pm

Saturday, May 10, 8:00pm

For information on the Gala Performance on May 14, 2008, at the John Elliot Theatre,

please leave a message at 905-877-3422.

Take a look at this petition and do sign. But also, click through the signatures. There are many people who have taken the time to write about their family and personal experiences under Communism.

Hope to see you there!!