#166 Be Brave and Remember

Remembrance Day acknowledges the guns falling silent at the end of the Great War, World War I, in 1918.

And there is something special about young people's commemoration of this day.

The Germans requested an armistice and accepted all conditions of surrender.

An armistice is an agreement amongst two parties to stop fighting for a period.

It is estimated that between nine and 13 million people died during World War I with more than 70 million directly involved in the conflict as soldiers and support personnel.

1914-1918 was the war to end all wars. Sadly, that proved to be hopefulness rather than a prophecy.

Poppies began to grow again on the battlefields at the end of the war.

"In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,"

John McRae's famous World War I poem hauntingly reminds us.

And since that day, each Remembrance Day, we place a poppy over our hearts to commemorate death and loss and war and freedom and to remember.

Trevallyn Primary School, an outstanding Tasmanian public school, commemorated Remembrance Day at 11.00am on the eleventh day of the eleventh month, when taking part in CanTeen Australia's Be Brave and Shave.

To be fair, I am biased. Trevallyn Primary was also my school and my family's community since our parents' arrival in Australia.

And to be completely honest I can trace most of the opportunities I have ever experienced in my professional career to the grounding and support I was blessed to receive during my primary school years.

No matter their age and no matter the place where remembrance assemblies or gatherings take place, young people have an acute awareness of the significance of loss and sacrifice.

And no matter whether you are placing a poppy in the sheer rock walls of Hellfire Pass on the Thai-Burma Railway, hand carved by allied prisoners of war during World War II, or observing a group of students pausing to reflect, silence without question demonstrates respect and it is inspiring.

There is not a person in our community who has not been impacted by cancer.

Friends, relatives, family members, acquaintances, former classmates - we all have our stories to tell, reflecting on challenges or supporting those who shine light on the struggles associated with combatting such an insidious disease.

There are about 100 different forms of cancer that attack the body's cells, inflicting pain and suffering and worry and death.

The latest figures from the Cancer Council are staggering. In 2020, it was estimated that there were just under 150,000 new cases of cancer diagnosed and just under 50,000 deaths from cancer.

Cancer is one of the nation's leading causes of death and one in two Australian men and women will be diagnosed with cancer by the age of 85.

Cancer remains prevalent in families when particular genes are inherited and passed through generations.

Chemicals, dust, and infections are also contributing factors with asbestosis, lung cancer, and mesothelioma prevalent after negligent companies continued to produce and use the construction material up until it was completely banned in 2003 even though they knew it was harmful to workers' health.

Thankfully, medical science and remedy and understanding will only become more informed.

For the past ten years Trevallyn Primary School has facilitated a fundraiser with the goal of empathy, selflessness, and community at the forefront of raising money for CanTeen Australia through colouring, cutting, shaving, and donating lengths of hair for the tailoring of wigs for patients who have lost theirs during chemotherapy treatment.

The event, which had its beginnings as an inquiry project aimed at helping those doing it tough, with then class teacher and now assistant principal Ms Jane Hudson guiding the students' learning, has developed into an extraordinary fundraising effort that has a culture and life of its own.

In 2021 Trevallyn Primary School raised a staggering $25,000 bringing the overall total to more than $150,000.

This is a proud public school with students from a variety of backgrounds that has harnessed the power of giving to enhance compassion and understanding.

CanTeen Australia supports young people battling cancer. It was started more than 30 years ago to provide assistance to patients but to also help young people aged 12-25 who may be parents, siblings, carers, or family members requiring counselling and professional services.

It is arguable that a sense of community has never been more important. We have been driven apart by a pandemic, creating a level of anxiety that we have not experienced in our lifetimes.

Our behaviours have changed as a result with vigilance and caution now front of mind. Perhaps we had become lackadaisical and needed a reminder.

Perhaps the positive of our recent experiences is that we recognise the value of community and the importance of the places we regularly meet.

Young people who learn to harness their communities to support each other develop empathy.

Understanding the struggles of others develops strong and caring adults and it reminds us to count our blessings.

Being brave teaches us to remember.

Remembering teaches us to respect.

Lest we forget.