Uploaded April 2025 | Updated September 2026, 4 days ago
Kalkidan Ararso was the winner of Conrad Grebel University College's 2024 C. Henry Smith Oratorical Contest with her speech titled “Echoes of Nahum: A Miner’s Lament”.
Kalkidan’s speech explored the harrowing humanitarian crisis occurring in the Congo. Using immersive language and a gripping narrative, Kalkidan’s speech was told from the perspective of an unnamed Congolese man who wished to “ignite a flame bright enough to be seen amidst the shadows that consumed my people.” Based off true events of a man who self-immolated himself to raise global awareness, Kalkidan’s speech depicts of the dire situation of Congolese men, women, and children. Kalkidan proposed many difficult questions that explored topics like mercy in Catholicism, the paradoxical reality of wealth in the Congo, and the role the Western World plays in their daily usage of Congolese cobalt. Her speech climaxed with the Congolese man setting himself on fire and becoming “the living embodiment of Nahum’s fiery wrath.” Her concluding words, “let justice roll on like a river into the land of the Congo and peace like a never-failing stream,” left a desperate cry for help and a call for social action. Kalkidan urged others to spread awareness of the Congo cobalt crisis and donate money, when possible.
Kalkidan Ararso was the winner of Conrad Grebel University College's 2024 C. Henry Smith Oratorical Contest with her speech titled “Echoes of Nahum: A Miner’s Lament”.
Kalkidan’s speech explored the harrowing humanitarian crisis occurring in the Congo. Using immersive language and a gripping narrative, Kalkidan’s speech was told from the perspective of an unnamed Congolese man who wished to “ignite a flame bright enough to be seen amidst the shadows that consumed my people.” Based off true events of a man who self-immolated himself to raise global awareness, Kalkidan’s speech depicts of the dire situation of Congolese men, women, and children. Kalkidan proposed many difficult questions that explored topics like mercy in Catholicism, the paradoxical reality of wealth in the Congo, and the role the Western World plays in their daily usage of Congolese cobalt. Her speech climaxed with the Congolese man setting himself on fire and becoming “the living embodiment of Nahum’s fiery wrath.” Her concluding words, “let justice roll on like a river into the land of the Congo and peace like a never-failing stream,” left a desperate cry for help and a call for social action. Kalkidan urged others to spread awareness of the Congo cobalt crisis and donate money, when possible.
