A Ukrainian girl is returning to the community that first hosted her refugee family in Canada by bringing her artwork to the Nov. 16 Rodney Night Market.
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When Sofiia Diakun fled Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in April 2023, her family lived with a host in West Elgin for their first three months in Canada.
Now living in Etobicoke, the family has not forgotten the kindness and support they received, not just from their hosts, but the entire West Elgin community, said Sofiia’s mother, Halyna.
“Many people helped us,” said Halyna Diakun. “People gave us bikes and bike helmets, and things for our first apartment. When your life is turned upside down, even little things, like saying ‘hello,’ help you feel stronger,” she said.
Sofiia’s dad, Viktor, was released by the military a year into the war and was reunited with his wife and children, Artem, then 12 and Sofiia, then 7. Viktor Diakun eventually got a job in the Greater Toronto Area and the family moved to an apartment in Etobicoke, where Halyna Diakun also found full-time work.
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There, Halyna Diakun enrolled Sofiia in art classes.
“Coming to Canada, this was very hard for the children, a new country, new language, new school, new friends, new home,” said Halyna Diakun.
Taking art classes and making art was sort of therapy for Sofiia.
“It was something for herself,” said Halyna Diakun.
Sofiia already has filled the walls of the family apartment with work in acrylic and watercolor. During a summer trip to Stratford, to see Wendy and Peter Pan, Sofiia was captivated by Art in the Park.
News of Rodney’s night market presented a perfect, and affordable, chance for Sofiia to show, and perhaps sell, her work to a friendly, supportive audience. The Night Market, organized by the Kiwanis Club of Rodney, runs Nov. 16 from 4 pm to 8 pm
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