During a speech given in her Communication class, Sinclair student Sheyla Alspach had an epiphany. She thought it would be a great idea to start a project for students to make 1,000 origami cranes in order to use their hands for peace.
But she didn’t think her idea would be on display throughout the library.
But it is.
A Japanese legend promises that anyone who folds 1,000 paper cranes will be granted a wish by the cranes. As the story goes, a Japanese girl named Sadako Sasaki died of leukemia, 10 years after the atomic bomb was dropped, Alspach said.
“Part of the story is that Sasaki’s friend gave her this peace crane. They have this legend in Japan saying that the crane is a sacred bird and if you fold 1,000 peace cranes your wish will come true for health,” Alspach said. “She wished for health and world peace. But she passed and had only folded 644 cranes.”
Sasaki’s friends believed that they could achieve world peace. So they folded the rest of the cranes and they buried her with 1,000 cranes.
World peace never ensued, but the vision for world peace allowed children from all over the world to come together to create a memorial. The memorial is Aug. 5 and is known as Peace Day.
“Schools from around the world send peace cranes to Hiroshima to be placed below her memorial on that particular day ,” Alspach said.
It occurred to Alspach that Sinclair students, faculty and staff could get involved in folding the peace cranes because of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that has taken place in Japan.
“What a better tribute to Japan, with what is happening over there to have the cranes hanging in the library for people to question and see what is going on,” she said. “So we have had numerous students, clubs, staff, Centerville students, even President Johnson and his executive staff join us to fold the peace cranes, which all have signed and put a wish inside.”
The project has been successful because Alspach said the idea started in the classroom and now students and the community are starting to join in to use their hands for peace.
The goal is to send the cranes at the end of June or beginning of July that way the cranes will be in Hiroshima for Peace Day.
Before the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, Alspach said the crane project had already started, due to that fact she has to make sure that Japan will accept the cranes.
There are more than 800 origami cranes hanging in the library. But Sinclair needs 200 more cranes to reach the goal of sending 1,000 cranes to Hiroshima. Alspach hopes to have an activity toward the end of the quarter that will allow students faculty and staff to donate their time and hands in order to help the cause for world peace.
“The cranes are just a vision of what the world could be,” she said.