Gazette January 2022
13
A Lesson in Hope and Forgiveness i4Give Day On a warm summer evening on Saturday 1 February 2020, a single moment ending in tragedy tested the strength of our Christian community on an unimaginable scale. A family of children who set out on a walk to buy ice cream heartbreakingly never made it to their destination. The children had little hope as an intoxicated driver mounted the footpath, striking them in his reckless haste. Four children lost their lives, with three others seriously injured. Children from our school, our community and our safe place. The following Sunday morning, with only two hours’ notice, over 400 community members gathered at the Tara Anglican School for Girls Chapel to pray and grieve the loss of Antony, Angelina and Sienna
Abdallah, and their cousin Veronique Sakr. People of all ages and nationalities stood together in prayer, finding a source of unexpected strength. Leila Abdallah, mother of Antony, Angelina and Sienna led the community with her bravery and deep faith. Despite her immense personal agony, Leila found strength within her faith to show forgiveness rather than resentment. Her profound public statement after the accident inspired many in our community to search their hearts for forgiveness and the ability to forgive. It was amid this devastating tragedy that we were reminded of the true meaning of faith within our community through the Christian values of hope and forgiveness. Today, The King’s School continues to support the Abdallah family on their mission of forgiveness.
Leila and Danny Abdallah have now established the i4Give Foundation in memory of the four children and as a way to support others who have faced a similar tragedy. Through this Foundation, they have also launched i4Give Day - a nationally recognised day every first of February, which encourages the community to reflect and commit to forgiveness by handing over such burdens to one’s faith. “There is no good that can come from carrying anger, bitterness and resentment because it affects our ability to move on and limits our ability to find hope and joy,” said Leila Abdallah. On 1 February 2021 our community gathered once more at the Memorial Chapel – this time for a remembrance service and special tree-planting ceremony. The new tree symbolises the deep loss to the King’s community, while also forever reminding us to find strength through forgiveness.
