Last week I finally went to Winchester after longing to do so for quite a long time. And being eager tourists we were, Dwi and I took the early bus and got there before nine in the morning. It was a bit chilly so we decided to have some coffee at whatever café or coffee shop that opened at that time (which turned out to be Costa. No surprise).

The street was pretty empty when we went inside, but when we went out, we saw so many people with uniforms passed by. We kept asking what was going on, until the answer came out of the blue. It was Remembrance Sunday. Of course. Why would anyone had a poppy on their lapels for the whole week?

This pleasant surprise gave us the view of the march from the main street to the cathedral.

We followed the march to the cathedral, where the Remembrance service was going to be held.

Although the impact of World War I didn’t hit Indonesia directly, it still gives me goosebumps everytime I imagined all the people who lost their lives and families in the war. But what saddens me the most is the fact that up to this point, there there are wars that still going on in another part of the world. It might not be as big as the World War I or II, but it killed many people. There are thousands of people who lost their lives, or their families. It’s been 95 years since the World War I ended, and about 68 years since the World War II, but there are people who still have to stand on the front line of the war zone. When we live a normal life, going to school, supermarket, or even Disneyland, some part of the world suffer with blood, literally.

Sometimes I become a pessimist by watching all the news, thinking that the way to complete peace is still too far.

It’s like what the Dalai Lama said,

The planet does not need more successful people. The planet desperately needs more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers and lovers of all kinds. It needs people to live well in their places.