Today@Dal

For decades the world was myriad in the costly Cold War. Each side was looking for enemies and each side very good at making enemies and making people afraid.

Are we into a new era now? We hope, but it's important not to lose touch with the relics and artifacts that shaped our past.

The Truro Agricultural Campus houses some wonderful assets and key historical artifacts. Students in the Leadership Development and Social Action class took a walk to and talked about the significance of these concrete structures along the Cobequid Trail. These are part of the Berlin Wall, constructed in 1961 and retained and guarded until 1989. These pieces symbolize the division of families, the hostilities between the east and the west, along with those who died in seeking their freedom. The fact that the wall has come tumbling down also is symbolic of human evolution. With tenacious local and international leadership the call for the removal of the wall became a reality.

The structures are worth seeing in the garden next to the Salmon River on the Truro Campus. They remind us of human capacity to be divisive, antagonist, hostile and even brutal. They also can stand for our own development as leaders and citizens responsible for co-creating a greater sense of shared responsibility for seeking truth, freedom, creativity and compassion. This is no simple walk in the woods.