Faithfully Yours - Helping neighbours in need
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- Published on Saturday, November 8, 2014
By Neil Strohschein
Last week, I shared some facts and figures on Canada’s involvement in World War I and the D-Day invasions that lead to Germany’s defeat and the end of World War II.
This week, I want to begin share my answers to two important questions—Why; and what? Why have we gone to war; and what (if anything) have we learned from our involvement in the world’s largest conflicts?
The answer to question one (Why have we gone to war?) is rooted in the way this country was built.
We are, for the most part, a nation of immigrants. Those who explored this country, surveyed it, settled it, started farms and built communities came from many different parts of Europe and Asia. They were lured by the offer of free land—but upon their arrival, they discovered that while the land could be attained for a nominal fee ($10 for 160 acres), the costs of setting up a homestead on that land were quite high. But this did not deter those who were determined to make their homes in this part of Canada.
All it took was one disaster—a prairie fire, or a severe winter storm—to teach these early settlers that if they wanted to survive, they needed to put their prejudices aside, learn how to treat each other with respect and work together for the benefit of their whole community. And that is precisely what they did.
They started by building a school. From Monday through Friday, it was filled with students—sometimes up to 30 or more Grade 1 to 8 pupils in one room with one teacher. In the evenings, the school was used for community meetings. On weekends, it hosted church services. An outdoor ice rink provided recreational opportunities in winter. A ball diamond did the same in summer. Neither cost all that much to build or maintain.
In the years that followed, more buildings were constructed. Little country churches, each with its own cemetery soon dotted the landscape. Community halls, recreation facilities and meeting houses for service clubs and societies (Legion, Elks, Masons, etc.) were built—often by volunteer labor using donated materials. Neighbors worked together to construct these facilities; and neighbors worked together to maintain them.
When we weren’t working together to build community facilities, we helped our neighbors in other ways. We made hay together and harvested crops together. When a fire broke out on a neighbor’s farm, we dropped what we were doing and went to fight the fire—and a few days later, we were back to help clean up the mess and replace the building(s) lost in the fire. We built our communities and country by being good neighbors.
That is also why we have gone to war. When our European neighbors (especially Great Britain and France) asked for our help to defeat the Germans in WWI, we sent trained personnel, vehicles, munitions and supplies overseas to help our neighbors in need. We fought side by side. We faced the hardships of war together. We grieved together as we buried the bodies of those killed in action. On Nov. 11, 1918, we celebrated the end of the war; and on Nov. 11, 1919, at 11 a.m. local time, we stood side by side again; this time in silence to honor those who had fought and died—just as we will do next Tuesday.
Canadians have never hesitated to send help to a neighbor in need. But who are “our neighbors in need today?” I will try to answer that question in next week’s column.
