Kaitlyn Van De Woestyne’s ability to tell a story has provided her with some great experiences since she graduated from the Estevan Comprehensive School (ECS) in 2010.
Van De Woestyne, who is the daughter of Kevin and Gwen Van De Woestyne, is currently working with CTV Regina. But she has been to several different countries to document the struggles people are facing.
After graduating from ECS, she studied justice for a year at the University of Regina (U of R). She then joined a Hawaii-based video advocacy group, Voice for the Voiceless, and she travelled with a team of eight people for eight months.
The experience took her to such countries as India and Kyrgyzstan.
“I basically did stories and videos for non-government organizations, placing a spotlight on social injustice issues,” said Van De Woestyne.
Van de Woestyne joined the journalism program at the U of R, and after graduating in 2015, she received the Kay Robbins Travelling Scholarship, which carried an $8,000 grant that allowed her to travel to southern Africa for three months. She produced a two-part series on the aftermath of HIV/AIDS in Swaziland.
“I focused on a Swazi family who has lost over 10 family members to the disease,” said Van De Woestyne.
The story aired on CTV, and she has been nominated for a Radio Television Digital News Association Award for the Prairie region.
Van de Woestyne has been with CTV Regina for nearly two years, and is currently an associate producer at CTV Morning Live.
Her latest accomplishment is being nominated for the Yorkton Film Festival in the student production category. Van De Woestyne is a videographer and a co-director for Officer 332, which shares the story of Larry Hartwig, who was one of the police officers named in an inquiry into the death of 17-year-old First Nations youth Neil Stonechild in Saskatoon in 1990.
Hartwig was never charged, but was let go by the Saskatoon Police Service after the inquiry was released. He has since been trying to clear his name.
Van De Woestyne was one of six students from the U of R’s School of Journalism involved with Officer 332. The film festival lists Van De Woestyne, Brady Knight and Alex Soloducha as directors. Victoria Dinh, Evan Radford and Tiffany Head were also part of the project.
Van De Woestyne views the Yorkton Film Festival as an important event.
“We’re really excited to be nominated,” said Van De Woestyne. “It’s a really big honour to be recognized.”
This is the first time she will be part of a film festival.
Van De Woestyne said her time at ECS played a big part in her success. When she was at the school, she never imagined she would be a video journalist, but she took video classes each year possible. Brian Wright, who is now a vice-principal at ECS, was her teacher.
“I took his classes, and I participated in Skills Canada through TV/video production, but I just never really considered that to be something I would pursue full-time,” she said. “But I think it’s funny now, in hindsight, that it was always there for me.”
The classes she took at ECS gave her a strong base of skills, and when she went to journalism school, she knew how to edit and shoot videos.
Her time spent overseas also furthered her abilities.
“I think it’s just a really priceless experience,” she said. “I think having such a long period to leave and to see other things really opened my eyes to the world. I think it sparked an interest in journalism, because I saw that there were really important things around the world, things that other people didn’t necessarily know about.”
When she came home and spoke to friends about working with victims of the sex trade in India and bride stealing in Kyrgyzstan, a lot of her friends hadn’t heard of these issues. But before she went overseas, Van De Woestyne didn’t know about them, either.
“It made me see that there is a need for journalism, that it’s a really important facet of our society,” said Van De Woestyne.
Van De Woestyne said she would like to travel again through her career, but she is happy to be able to work in Saskatchewan and be close to home.
