Celebration of Neighbour Day on 29 March
Australians have recently just come through, and are still facing the aftermath of, the recent disastrous bushfires in Victoria and floods in Queensland, and it has been a real reminder that when in danger people naturally turn to each other, to their neighbours and fellow citizens for support, help, and encouragement. What happens to our fellow citizens matters.
As Kevin Rudd says in his Neighbour Day 2009 message, “When adversity strikes we as Australian know we are all in this together and need to work together to make it through. It’s easy to take that tradition for granted, but the truth is that it’s under threat”.
He is right, the simple act of neighbourliness is under threat, and the new initiative called ‘Neighbour Day’ is an opportunity for us to acknowledge and act upon the realisation that we are not all just individual economic units or nuclear families struggling for day to day existence, but human beings living within a complex net of relationships with others around us.
It is time to reclaim or relearn what it means to live in community, and to reach out to those around us. Having a sense of community means more people have more resiliency when times get tough, so it is worthwhile to make the effort.
With the new technology it has become possible to ignore people around us and feel an allegiance only to those we are in electronic contact with through our mobile phones, laptops, and other virtual worlds. People who can still remember what it means to care about the common good must reassert those values, beliefs and behaviour.
Residential neighbours used to know each other, look out for each other’s interests, perhaps collect their newspaper or mail in their absence, hold an extra key in case they are locked out or other emergency. Strangers could be counted on to come to your aid if you fell in the street, or were the victim of a mugging. The whole basis and rules guiding such neighbourly relations are lost for new generations. How do we regain this? By being aware of what we have lost and taking steps to reverse the situation!
On Neighbour Day we could start to reach out to people in our immediate surroundings, by saying hello, or hosting a barbeque or get together, by offering to help an elderly neighbour in some way. The unfriendly face of the city won’t be able to continue if we each decide to have the courage to be the first to smile or say hello. Neighbour Day is an excellent initiative, which we support, and hope you do something to observe it this year. For more information, go to: http://www.neighbourday.org/