A Perthshire schoolgirl shocked by the invasion of Ukraine penned a poem which went on to win in an international art and writing competition.
In March Sarah O’Flynn, a pupil at Breadalbane Academy, was asked along with others in her S2 English class to write responses to the news reports coming out about the Russian attacks on civilians and the families leaving their homes.
Pictures on the news showed the women and children forced to flee and Sarah (13) considered how it might feel.
When she came home proud of the poem she'd composed, her family entered it into the NSI writing competition. The theme of the competition for 2021-22 was ‘Life after conflict’.
In the days that followed, her school in Aberfeldy held a Ukraine Day on March 25 when pupils dressed in blue and yellow - the colours of the flag - and raised money for the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC)’s Ukraine Appeal.
The school has since received several new pupils who had to flee Ukraine when their homes came under fire.
Sarah recently heard her poem ‘Going Away’ had been picked from 3181 pieces of writing submitted from 93 different countries as diverse as Myanmar and Saudi Arabia.
Going Away won first prize for Perthshire, Scotland in the 11-14 poetry category.
NSI stands for Never Such Innocence and started as a WWI commemoration project.
It has grown into a creative organisation for children everywhere to write, draw and make video expressions about how war effects childhood, exploring historic and current conflicts, international or personal.
The winning entries have been compiled into a digital book.
PM Boris Johnson commented that it has “never been more vital to listen to the voices of young people... to promote global peace” in a personal introduction to the competition, published besides the winning entries.
NSI founder Lady Lucy French OBE gave a video message to announce the winners online.
“The theme of the competition was ‘Life after conflict’ and I found it deeply moving to read the contributions from children all over the world,” she said.
“You have been brave enough to make your voices heard.
“Sometimes I think that grown ups forget just how much young ones are watching and listening.”
Going Away
We left our home, early that morning,
Backs to the rubble and sounds of mourning.
Our world in bags, minds filled with fear,
Our heavy feet leave all we hold dear.
We walk to the station, we don't have a car,
To go to Poland or anywhere far.
It's just me and my mum and my baby brother.
My dad is gone and broken, my mother.
Retired veteran, poet and author, Major Barry Alexander was one of the judges and commented about Sarah’s winning poem, which made its point in just eight lines.
He described it as “a small, thoughtful poem that punches above its weight, conveying the sense of shattered lives and heavy hearts in simple, effective words.”
The full NSI Life after conflict 2021-22 ebook of winners can be seen at this link: https://indd.adobe.com/view/6ea5b4a6-9e50-48c7-a3dd-452d80050c13
