Arianna H.

Vancouver, British Columbia

Vancouver Heritage Fair

Take a Stand (The British Home Children)

These poor children had been suffering for most of their lives that could have been the life we have now, but sadly,many of these children had been through an experience we'd never want to be in. Back then in 1869, these children were known as children that had no such thing called feelings in them, the guttersnipes of London, and of course a home child. Children couldn't stand being in those conditions, being abused, and having to face all those harmful people, so some of them had ran away, attacked their hosts, and even committed suicide but just a few... a few had been able to survive or had a guardian that cared about them which had led them to their new, fresh beginning.

What was the most interesting thing you learned about your topic?

The most interesting thing I have learned about my topic is that children at such young age could do all those chores without getting enough food to eat or sleep but still stayed strong and fought their way to their new beginning. These children has more courage than anyone else has ever had because standing up to a person that has abused you is a really difficult thing for such young children to do especially since they have experienced many horrifying and unforgettable things.

What important lessons have you learned that you want to share with other Canadians?

Every person in this world has their own big dream that they would like to chase, and a dream that the British Home Children had had, was having the freedom, and right to object and to speak. Some of these children had chased their dream and had succeeded. These children had chased their dream like none of us have before which had lead them to success. From this lesson, just remember that if you have a dream, be brave and chase it.

How would you compare your life today to the lives of those studied in your project?

I feel really lucky to have a family that cares about me and be living in this century with good education, being able to have a roof to live under and not feeling the strength of starve. Not only because the children back then didn't have any of these things, children didn't even get to object or their own freedom to speak but instead, they had to be controlled by their foster guardians. I hope that this horrifying nightmare will never exist in anyone's life again.