From the Deputy Principal
Building culture and connection
Building connections builds culture and we have been blessed with many people in our community who help us make meaningful connections for our students. You may have seen in one of our social media posts a story about Dr Thomas Schaefer meeting with one of our Year Twelve students, Lily Wilsher-Saa to provide insight and encouragement to Lily. Thomas is a surgeon who has worked for many years with Medecins Sans Frontieres in the Gaza Strip and Lily is aspiring to work in international aid and development. After meeting with Thomas, Lily was inspired and wanted to share her thoughts with the school at assembly on Monday. The full speech is available below, and I've included an excerpt here to give you some sense of the power of this connection for our young people and how each of us can make a difference to the world.
Thomas’ stories were so incredible and really put into perspective the complexity and tragedies of the conflict. There was one thing that Thomas said that really stuck with me. He asked me to imagine there was a jungle on fire. All the animals – tigers, lions, elephants and hippos have run out and are standing looking at their home being consumed by flames. Suddenly a Hummingbird, flies over the jungle and spits on it. The animals laugh at the Hummingbird knowing that he could never put the whole fire out. But the Hummingbird turns to the animals and says, “I have done my part, now you do yours.”
We know that little Hummingbird could never save the jungle on his own, but with the help of all the animals they could save the jungle together.
I believe that it has never been more important to give back to the wider world than it is now. We live in a time when we as humans face pandemics, climate change and the gap between the haves and the have nots getting wider than ever before, at a time when 689 million people across the globe, live in extreme poverty on $1.90 or less a day. When most of these people are women and children who have little power to change their circumstances. When it is those, living in extreme poverty, who are dying in greater numbers from COVID due to the lack of basic health services.
No matter what job we do in life, we can all play our part in working towards a safer future for all humankind. A world where opportunity is available to all, equally.
If your dream is to become an engineer, think about engineering cheap, safe housing for people following natural disasters.
If you become a teacher, think about inspiring young people to work toward building a more equal world.
If you become a scientist, think about working toward new energy systems that limit the damage of climate change.
If you become a barista or work in a Café, think about supporting sustainable fair-trade producers not multinationals.
For myself, I know I want to work in International Aid and Development, but I know I am only one person. Many people around the developing world rely on Hummingbirds, people like you and I, to do our small part to improve the lives of others.
Languages Week
What better way to celebrate Languages Week than coming together to learn about Japanese cuisine? On Thursday 2 September come and join us from 6.00pm to 8.00pm in the Hospitality Room and learn from our Head of Languages, Atsuko Kagi, about Japanese cuisine. You'll learn how to make traditional recipes you won't find in Japanese restaurants and you'll learn about language and culture along the way. There's a small cost of $5 to join us. If you'd like to come along, please email reception@gsg.wa.edu.au
Mrs Emma Franklin | Deputy Principal