| The paper crane is a symbol of peace
and hope. This idea was popularized by the familiar story of
Sadako Sasaki. She was just a child when the atom bomb was
dropped on Hiroshima, but at the age of 11 she was diagnosed with
the "atom bomb disease" or leukemia because of the
direct exposure to the radiation.
With the encouragement from her friends and
family, Sadako decided to fold 1000 paper cranes in the hope that
she would be cured. She believed in the old Japanese legend
that said; a person who folds 1000 paper cranes will have his/her
wish granted; she was confident that each paper crane represented
a wish and certainly a thousand wishes could not be ignored...
She used every piece of paper she could get her
hands on; the medicine paper, newspapers, magazines, scraps, and
other papers her family and friends brought her. She folded and
folded hundreds of cranes as she watched her friends die in the
hospital along side her.
Eventually, she realized that here wish had
changed. She no longer wished for her own health but rather
that this type of violence should never happen again. That
there should be no more bombs or wars, her wish was for peace so
that children like her and adults alike will never have to suffer
and die.
She managed to fold 644 cranes before she could
fold no more... She passed away on October 25, 1955.
Everyone was so moved by her story, her friend,
classmates, and family folded the remaining 356 cranes to bury
with her.
A few years later a monument in her honor was
erected in Hiroshima Park as an example of her courage and
dedication and her wish for peace. The monument has engraved
the following:
This is our
cry,
This is our prayer,
peace in the world.
|
