For three hours on Sunday, Nov. 15, Oakville residents can step inside a coach bus turned into a classroom on the Holodomor, the 1932–1933 famine in Ukraine. The Holodomor National Awareness Tour parks in the lot at St. Joseph's Ukrainian Catholic Church from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., the parish says.
The church describes the Holodomor Mobile Classroom as an immersive digital space, using video displays, interactive modules and other educational technology to tell the history of what it calls the forced famine-genocide in Ukraine engineered by the Soviet regime.
The exhibit is pitched at young people. Its slogan is "Educating, Engaging, and Empowering Youth to Counter Hate," and the church says visitors will learn how lessons from the famine apply to today's struggles for human rights, personal freedoms and democratic values.
The bus parks at a parish that already keeps a bronze sculpture on its grounds: "A Nation's Memory," commissioned by Theodore and Irene Shlapak and designed and created by artist Oleh Lesiuk.
The visit comes in the lead-up to the national day of remembrance. Under the federal Holodomor Memorial Day Act, the fourth Saturday in November is marked across Canada as Ukrainian Famine and Genocide ("Holodomor") Memorial Day, which falls on Nov. 28 this year.
The following Saturday, Nov. 21, the parish brings back St. Joseph's Trivia Night at St. Joseph's Banquet & Conference Centre, 300 River Oaks Blvd. East. A Ukrainian buffet runs from 6 to 7 p.m., followed by game play until 10:30 p.m. It's open to everyone in the community: come with a full team of up to 12 players, or join one at the door.
Tickets are $55 a person and are sold through the parish's online form. For more information, email [email protected].
