The orphan story: a chance to support the local community

Image above: The 2018 Premier's Anzac Spirit School Prize students at the Hong Quang Orphan House with the Venerable Thích Thiện Thông during their visit in October 2019.


Visiting orphanages in Vietnam in 2019

The Premier’s Anzac Spirit School Prize study tours to Vietnam since 2016 has engaged with the Vietnamese community by visiting schools and orphanages. Students on these tours have raised funds and provided these institutions with computers, data projectors, stationery, food and money. We hope we have been able to contribute to the health of these institutions and the quality of life and education for the young people involved.  

In 2018 we visited two orphanages near Vung Tau.  


They were: 

Hong Quang Orphan House was originally established by Venerable Thích Thiện Thông in order to support  orphans and poor children in the locality. Even though the centre has been managed by the government, private income is still needed for them to manage by themselves. The centre only receives support from the local community to cover the fees of education, food and personal living necessities. At the moment, the centre looks after around 70 orphans. The children under 5 years old will be at the centre when we visit but the older children (above 5 years old) will be at their school.

Tu An Pagoda is a poor temple which is currently run by Nun Thích nữ Minh Hải with donations from the Buddhist community to help the temple support the orphans (it does not belong to the government). It is home to more than 150 orphaned children, 13 elderly and disabled persons. At present, there are many children of school age and the cost for the children to go to school is difficult for the temple to pay for.

In 2019 we are planning to visit the same orphanages but that could change before we visit. We will be visiting somewhere and as in previous years it is worth planning how we can contribute to the work of the monks and nuns and the welfare of the children in the orphanages.


In 2018 the Venerable Thích Thiện Thông and Nun Thích nữ Minh Hải were aware of our visits and they were very appreciative of the 'kind hearts' of the group. The donations do not have to be cash - the group donated the most needed items for daily life at the school, such as rice, milk, clothing, shoes, blankets, diapers, baby wipes, stationery, etc. We can buy those in Vietnam again, so please do not pack such! 

They are poor orphanages (receiving no State-aid) and any help we can give them would be greatly appreciated. I have checked out the orphanages and been assured by the tour group who have dealt with the orphanages in the past that any money/resources provided will go directly to help the orphans. Several of us are planning to do some fund raising in the office and around the place before we go – we would love the orphanages to be provided with some funds and/or items when we visit. Feel free to do something in your school or community groups if you want to help out with any fund raising before we depart. There is no pressure on you to be involved on a personal level but we thought it would be good to engage with the Vietnamese community and do something positive in the community when we are there.

We will collect and receipt all donations at Adelaide Airport before we leave on 29 September. We will talk more about this aspect of the trip when we meet on Friday this week.

I also suggest that before Friday, take the time to listen to the podcast at https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/conversations/ian-shaw-operation-babylift/11148882  about the 'Babylift' out of Vietnam in 1975.


Here is a summary of the podcast:


"A few years ago writer Ian Shaw unearthed the story of aid workers Rosemary Taylor and Margaret Moses. They were two former nuns from Adelaide who spent eight years in Vietnam during the war. The pair developed a complex of nurseries to house war orphans and street children, and helped find adoptive families overseas for the children. In 1975, as the North Vietnamese forces closed in on the nurseries, Rosemary and Margaret began frantic plans to evacuate the children to safety. Despite opposition from the Whitlam Government, the women succeeded in bringing more than 200 orphans from Saigon to Australia to meet their new families."




Orphanages continue to be an everyday part of life in Vietnam but understandably during the Vietnam War the problem of orphaned children was chronic. The work of two amazing South Australian women that is told in the podcast is worth listening to. Most importantly it shows us the background story of orphaned children during the war and the work that was (and is) still being conducted by Australians in Vietnam. The podcast is a truly inspiring story and it will provide a backstory for you when we visit the orphanages in Vietnam.

Starting to put the Vietnam War into place

Image above: An iconic image from the Vietnam War - the important role of helicopters for troop movements, supplies and medical evacuations

Your submissions on-line 

  

I now have most of your entries and they will soon be posted on the South Australian Government website - well done for producing such excellent pieces of research and documentation!!! Veterans SA have asked me to "encourage the students to share the site on their social media etc". Feel free to promote the prize and the stories you researched in any way you see as appropriate.

Your entry will be posted on the Veterans SA website at https://veteranssa.sa.gov.au/themes/premiers-anzac-spirit-school-prize/

Chronological sequencing of the Vietnam War

In this posting I have selected some sites that provide timelines for the Vietnam War. I plan to forward via this blog small bits of information on a regular basis (about once a week) for you to look at prior to the trip. If you do the readings/watching I direct you to in the blog over the next three months you will have a really good understanding of what you are visiting when we are in Vietnam. I know you have plenty of schoolwork to do but if we do a little bit at a time in preparation for the tour, you will certainly be well briefed on the Vietnam War and associated aspects for our visit (some postings will be about Vietnam, the place). There is no test or assessment of all this reading/watching, just a chance for you to get the most out of the tour - up to you! I know that many of you are doing your own reading in preparation - keep that going but just keep an eye out for what I post to see if it provides information that you have not covered.

Other than keeping a journal on the trip, I am not planning to provide any worksheets or a workbook for you - this blog preparation is really that! Plus, I don't want your heads buried in booklets or filling in sheets when we are traveling - I want you to look around and take it all in, using the knowledge and understandings about Vietnam and the Vietnam War you gain prior to the trip.

The chronological sequencing of events is a fundamental skill in history and this blog posting provides several timelines of events (for the American involvement and the Australian involvement in the Vietnam War). Such sequencing gives you an orientation of what happened over time - it is so important to get your historical bearings on happenings with any historical event - to know what happened in order. Probably not the most exciting historical task but very important when considering cause and effect.

American involvement timelines

http://www.english.illinois.edu/maps/vietnam/timeline.htm

Australian involvement timelines

http://www.vvaa.org.au/calendar.htm

https://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/vietnam

The 2019 Premier's Anzac Spirit School Prize group selected and ready to start preparing

Welcome to the 2019 Premier's Anzac Spirit School Prize students and teachers. We have quite a journey ahead of us!

Here is the list of the successful awardees: 

Sophie Baker               Central Yorke School

Melissa Campbell        Glenunga International High School

Laura Cassell               Xavier College

Matilda Cotton              Glenunga International High School

Lily Farrell                     Loreto College Marryatville

Montana Foster            Wudinna Area School

Liam Kay                      Cardijn College

Shreyas Khanna           St Peters College

Sophie Lipman              Loxton High School

India Little                      Kingston Community School

Charli Medlow               Meningie Area School

Ryan Schwarz               Endeavour College

Elise Turtur                    Roxby Downs Area School

William Wiseman           Kingston Community School

Daisy Yates                   Saint Martin’s Lutheran College

Tabitha Zdanowicz        Loxton High School

Teachers and RSL SA Delegate to accompany the students

Ellen Glass                    Aberfoyle Park High School

Maddison Lawrie           Kingston Community School

Lauren Smith                 Central Yorke School

Bob Kearney                  RSL SA

Malcolm McInerney        Department for Education

A quick glance shows the Awardees breakdown as:

* 10 Department for Education, 3 CESA and 3 AISSA schools

*   9 country and 7 city schools

* 12 girls and 4 boys

*   7 Year 9 students and 9 Year 10 students

Congratulations  to the students for some outstanding entries and you certainly deserve the opportunity to visit Vietnam to learn and commemorate in September-October 2019. 

Keep an eye out for new postings on this blog as we prepare for the trip - to gain over coming months, knowledge and understanding about Vietnam and the Vietnam War years.






Announcement in South Australian Parliament: 6 June, 2019

The Minister for Education, John Gardener MP announced the prize awardees in the Parliament of South Australia  yesterday (6 June).  Here is the transcript from Hansard of his response to the question:


Can the minister update the house in relation to the 2019 Premier's ANZAC Spirit School Prize?

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Minister for Education) (14:51): I'm very pleased to have this question from the member for MacKillop, and hot off the press is some good news for some students in the electorate of MacKillop, which I will come to shortly.

I know this is a prize that is supported by members right across this parliament. I'm sure that members across this parliament appreciate the opportunities that teachers in their schools give to students in their local areas to be able to participate in this prize, to engage with our service men and women, returned service men and women and, indeed, potentially historical service men and women, family members and others who have served our country so that they can better understand what the ANZAC spirit is and what it is to be a key part of Australian history, and to understand it.

This year, more than 1,000 years 9 and 10 students across South Australia took part in the ANZAC Spirit School Prize, and 16 of those students have been successfully chosen to participate in a 14-day study tour to Vietnam later this year. This is an opportunity for all 1,000 students to be able to undertake studies and do research on individual service men and women, soldiers and nurses, people who have given for our country and made sacrifices during those two significant conflicts in particular. Previously, it was World War I. During the centenary of ANZAC those were highlighted.
This year, the poster featured Sir Ross and Keith Smith, Wally Shiers and their other crew member in the centenary year, recognising their extraordinary flight across the world. That's relevant here, too, because 1919 was the year after the end of the First World War. One of the themes they were looking at is the way the nation recovered and the way the spirit of the nation was supported by the Prime Minister's prize offered for that trip around the world. That's one of the things students considered. Indeed, World War II subjects were also available.

I am really pleased also to note this year that the entries that were submitted by schools for judgement have been submitted to the RSL Virtual War Memorial to contribute to that. But on to the winners. I am really pleased that the member for MacKillop has asked the question. I can advise him that the Kingston Community School has provided two of our winners this year: India Little and William Wiseman. Indeed, the Meningie Area School has been honoured with Charli Medlows' performance, but members right across this chamber can be pleased with the performances of their local students.

We also congratulate Sophie Baker from the Central Yorke School, Melissa Campbell from Glenunga International High School, Laura Cassell from Xavier College, Matilda Cotton from Glenunga again, Lily Farrell from Loreto College in Marryatville, Montana Foster from the Wudinna Area School, Liam Kay from Cardijn College, Shreyas Khanna from St Peters College, Sophie Lipman from Loxton High School, Ryan Schwarz from Endeavour College, Elise Tutur from Roxby Downs Area School, Daisy Yates from Saint Martin’s Lutheran College in Mount Gambier and Tabitha Zdanowicz from the Loxton High School.

All these students are worthy of our congratulations, and I think that they will be joining all the previous students who have gone on this trip on 5 July when, at Ayres House, we will be holding a reception for many of those students who have undertaken those study tours.

I think that it is going to be an amazing group of young South Australians who have done this work over the last decade and a half or so. Their research and their participation in the community has added to our state's understanding of ANZAC, but I think that this trip and this prize in particular is an aspirational opportunity for so many young people to give some thought to what this country has been built on over the last one hundred years of that ANZAC tradition and what feeds into that spirit.





A press release also went out yesterday and can be accessed at

https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/liberalpartyofaustralia/mailings/2486/attachments/original/06-06_Marshall-Gardner_Premiers_ANZAC_Prize_winners.pdf?1559796283

Integrating the Anzac legend at the 2019 HaSS SA Conference

HaSS SA Conference: Saturday, 23 February, 2019 at the UniSA Magill Campus

• The story behind the 2019 Premier's Anzac Spirit School Prize poster. Read the the story of the Smith brothers by clicking here.
• Information and entry forms at www.decd.sa.gov.au/anzacschoolprize/
• Access winning entries from 2015-2018 at http://anzaccentenary.sa.gov.au/themes/premiers-anzac-spirit-school-prize

The HaSS SA workshop presentation titled 'Stories that my grandfather never told'.

The workshop explored the potential to teach war and commemoration through historical conceptual thinking using research skills to develop authentic learning in the classroom. Learning about Australia’s involvement in the Great War, World War 2, Korean War and Vietnam War should be more than learning about chronology, battles and statistics. The Australian Curriculum: History provides the opportunity to connect students to the stories and events through conceptual thinking. At the same time the use of research skills to ‘find’ stories is a way to personalise the learning for students. During the workshop the Virtual War Memorial and the Premier’s Anzac Spirit School Prize will be profiled as examples of unique initiatives for students to participate in high quality historical research and to personally engage in learning about war beyond just learning ‘about’ the conflict involved.

Some ideas to get started with researching

* Visit the Virtual War Memorial Australia site at https://vwma.org.au/

* Ask your family about an older family member or family friend who served or was involved in the conflict.

* Does your school have an Honour Board or Memorial Wall commemorating ex-students? 

* The first step for individuals who died during wartime will probably be to look them up on the Australian War Memorial website www.awm.gov.au where you will find lots of other useful links.  Start by going to ‘Research a person’ at www.awm.gov.au/research/people/ and entering either a name or service number.

 
 * Research in your local library or local history museum for any local history accounts of an individual from your area participating in your selected conflict. 

* Visit the War Memorials in your local area to identify the names of locals who participated in your selected conflict. The RSL website links at www.rslsa.org.au/ may help you with this task. 

* Contact your local Returned & Services League (RSL) (www.rslsa.org.au/) to discuss the Premier’s ANZAC Spirit School Prize task and whether they can help your research.  The RSL is involved in the competition and have communicated details of the competition and study tour to all their branches.  Such personal contact could be invaluable in developing responses.

 
* Visit the National Archives of Australia website at www.naa.gov.au/collection/explore/defence/service-records/army-wwi.aspx for detailed war records of individuals.

* Visit the Commonwealth War Graves Commission at www.cwgc.org/ for details  on overseas war cemeteries and graves.

The final reception for the prize: a chance to share and reflect

2018 Premier's Anzac Spirit School Prize Reception in the RSL SA Hall

7th December, 2018

The 2018 Premier's Anzac Spirit School Prize Reception was held yesterday in the RSL SA Memorial Hall. Again, thank you to RSL SA for their amazing support with the prize and continued involvement. The reception is a chance for the group to get together for one last time and share their reflections and learning with family, education staff and the veteran community. 

The students did a great job reflecting on their favourite moment form the trip and our guest speakers were wonderful in setting the scene for the occasion. Here are just some photographs from the reception that show the great confidence and enthusiasm of the students and the sincere involvement of our guests.

Broson Horan, RSL SA/NT President delivers the opening address.

Diana Hunt addresses the gathering, describing the reasons for her Nui Dat picture choice.

Koby Poulton thanks Deonne Smith, Director in the Department for Education for her support with the Premier's Anzac Spirit School Prize over the years.

Neva van Raalte shares her impressions of the Cu Chi Tunnels.

Angelique Dellaney talks about the importance of the story telling of Mr T ... and shows the amazing photograph she took of Mr T.

Jenny Tran showed her wonderful video of the trip - what a great effort and a real surprise to view such a well made and co-ordinated effort.

Cheryl Cates, RSL SA delegate for the trip shares her Long Tan experience.

Oliver Shephard-Bayly talks politics and his impressions of Vietnam.

Rob Manton, Director of Veterans SA addresses the gathering - great stories and a really important perspective re: veterans presented. 

Lainie Anderson, History SA launches the 2019 Premier's Anzac Spirit School Prize Reception and tells the story of the Smith brothers.

Simon Kelly, Catholic Education SA delegate for the prize and a great supporter of the prize for many years is presented with a thank you gift by Laj Thind and Lila Weidenbach.

Elspeth Grant gets a hug from Angelique Dellaney for all her support on the trip and being just a great teacher chaperone.

Malcolm McInerney, Lainie Anderson and Rob Kearney with the 2019 Premier's Anzac Spirit School Prize poster. Rob and Lainie will be very important people as the 2019 prize progresses. 

Well, that's it for the 2018 Premier's Anzac Spirit School Prize - what a great group, a great trip and hopefully not the end to the friendships and learning journey for all involved.

Good luck for the future - it has been a pleasure working with you all.

Malcolm

We all like to laugh! What a weapon for peace and understanding

Laughter Yoga- what a wonderful surprise!

Andrew Penny writes:

Vietnam- a country of wonderful surprises and delights every day

"The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter." 

 Mark Twain

What a privilege to attend the Spirit of Anzac competition! My sincere thanks to Malcolm, Department for Education, the Premier and South Australian Government for maintaining this study tour. I felt blessed to have learnt so much and feel that it has changed my life.

In reflecting on our adventure, I must admit that the kindness, friendly and graciousness of the Vietnamese people will stick with me.

Martin was a wonderful tour guide, endlessly patient, gracious, honest and funny. The walk down from Camp Carroll with Peter and Martin is one of my happiest memories from the trip as locals waved and smiled, the children rode past us, spoke to us, laughed with us and at us. Along the way we had a chance to learn a little bit more about Martin and his life outside of being a Tour Guide.

I have chosen this photograph because even the final day of our time in Vietnam had a wonderful surprise. We left our hotel for a walk around Hoan Kiem Lake at 6.00am and I continued to appreciate the dedication of the Vietnamese people to physical exercise and well-being. Gym, badminton, jogging, ballroom dancing all occurring down at the park. Malcolm approached a Laughter Yoga group who immediately invited us to join in. Complete strangers held hands and laughed our way through several yoga sets. What a delight it was to relax and laugh with these remarkable people. One lady proudly told me her daughter was studying in Melbourne.

I walked away remembering Ewan Mc Gregor’s comment in the Long Way Round that “deep down people are the same across the world”. We all like to laugh! What a weapon for peace and understanding between different cultures, races and people. It was a remarkably simple but effective way of connecting two cultures and developing rapport and understanding between people.

Finally, we can be hopeful for the future of Australia given the character of our students. I lost count of the number of times foreign tourists stopped me to commend our students on their behaviour. They represented South Australia and themselves in a very positive way throughout the study tour.

I came out of Vietnam full of ideas and thoughts from history to culture, to politics

Oliver Shephard-Bayly writes:

In the cloud of Communism

Although the pure ambition of Marxist Communism seems to have left the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, being in its cloud allowed me to greatly reflect on its legacy. Walking through the streets of Hanoi we saw signs hailing the triumph of communism. With the embalmed body of Ho Chi Minh in his mausoleum, draped in the communist colours and surrounded by sorrowful mourners, I could see the true feeling the Vietnamese people appeared to have for this little man.

Having previously studied the great personality cults of the 20^th century, I  have contemplated the effectiveness of it all. Did people really believe in the myth and just accept the propaganda that was so often promoted by these authoritative leaders and their party. I was amazed by the respect in an almost sacramental way Vietnamese people talked of Uncle Ho, although I understand some people may put this on for show to escape government harassment. Such is unknown to us in Australia. What seems clear is even today a considerable percentage of the population has a great respect to their ‘dear leader’ in an almost religious way.  

While pacing around the mausoleum I also reflected on communism's political legacy. Although communism fell in the Soviet Union and economic liberalisation in the east is celebrated (and rightly so), the legacy of State totalitarianism has still not ended in Vietnam. You can see this as you walk around and see patriotic posters, the strong police presence and read the government newspapers. I wonder whether Vietnam will ever transition to a liberal democracy like Australia? Will the communist party continue to have a grasp over Vietnam for years to come? It’s probably somewhere in between.     

Being in a different political environment also makes you question your own. In Vietnam I contemplated whether our heavily liberalised individualist society is the best structure? Certainly, it’s got its merits, but I think what I saw in Vietnam of the philosophy that you are just a societal cog and not a selfish individual is worth thinking about. Although I find the erosion of individual rights appalling, I am interested in the mentality that you are connected to a society which you give what you can and receive what you need. 

I also found the Vietnamese approach to the welfare system compelling. At every park I looked at the woman sweeping up the leaves. Being paid by the state to do this simple task gave these women a purpose and dignity to have money for their own work. As I don’t know much about the system, I cannot say if I would support such an approach in Australia but the idea that anyone can get a simple job with the State if they wish, is a comforting one. I believe as technology progresses and manual skills become less in demand, we will need policies to provide an income to unemployed people, whilst providing them with a purpose in life. I wonder how we can reflect on systems like this around the world to find solutions to our own problems, in the present and future.  

So, I came out of Vietnam full of ideas and thoughts from history to culture, to politics, each of which are so intertwined. I cannot easily separate them.

I am so grateful for having such an amazing opportunity with so many incredible and interesting people and I hope that I can continue to ponder these amazing societal thoughts back home.