Director's Wave | Volume 6 Edition 9 | News | Cayman International School

November 7th 2025

Dear CIS Community,

Something to Ponder

“An eye for an eye only ends up making the world blind.” - Mahatma Gandhi

Monday, 10 November is a public holiday in the Cayman Islands, and schools are closed in acknowledgement of Remembrance Day.

Remembrance Day—Depending on your country of origin, you may also know the day as Veteran’s Day, Armistice Day, 11 November, or perhaps by another name. Regardless of the name, this is a time to pause in memory of those who lost their lives in military service while serving their country. Red Poppies are a symbol of this homage, as described in the poem, In Flanders Fields.

Each year to support remembering those who have fallen, CIS participates in the annual Poppy Appeal, led by our grade five students. You may have noticed the signs related to this at school and around the island - perhaps you have provided a small donation in order to get a poppy of your own. The poppies distributed throughout the island are donated by the Royal British Legion and the Royal Canadian Legion. Money collected in the Cayman Islands during the Poppy Appeal remains in the Islands to assist the members of the Cayman Islands Veterans Association. Red Poppies are a symbol of this homage and support. The poppy often accompanies the phrase “lest we forget.”

According to the most recent Global Peace Index (GPI), the world became less peaceful for the thirteenth time in the last seventeen years.

The average level of country peacefulness has deteriorated by about 0.4%.
This is the sixth consecutive year that global peacefulness has decreased.
Of the eight regions of the world analyzed only South America has shown a regional improvement in peacefulness.
Our region of Central and North America, is a region disparity when it comes to peacefulness (world ranking in parenthesis) - with only Canada (14), Costa Rica (54), Dominican Republic (79), Panama (84), Trinidad and Tobago (89), and Jamaica (93) being ranked in the top 100 most peaceful countries in the world.
- The USA (128), Mexico (135), and Haiti (141) are ranked as the three least peaceful countries in our region.
- The Dominican Republic, Panama, El Salvador, Mexico, and Haiti are the only countries in our region that saw an increase in peacefulness in the past year..
Iceland is ranked as the most peaceful country in the world.
There are currently 59 active state-based conflicts - the most since World War II, with 152,000 conflict-related deaths recorded in 2024.
The global economic impact of violence increased to an estimated 20 trillion USD in 2024, representing about 12% of global GDP.

The Cayman Islands, fortunately, can be described as a peaceful place. Thus Remembrance Day may also remind us of the many wonderful things in our lives and the opportunities available to our children. Our children here in the CIS community, are growing up without the immediate presence of conflict or war, have limited exposure to food instability, and have very few barriers to education. Remembrance Day is a day to appreciate the wonders of our world and lives - to pay homage to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice in hopes of making the world a better place for future generations – to think and act on what we may do as individuals or groups in service, to make the world a better place.

Please be reminded that there is no school for students on Monday 10 November as the Cayman Islands observes Remembrance Day.

Sincerely,

Jim

Jim Urquhart

Director - Cayman International School

Remembrance Day ceremonies around the world often include the poem In Flanders Fields (shared below).

In Flanders Fields

By Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, physician, soldier, poet, author, artist

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly