AUTHOR: SARAH PALMER
Many residents of Hiroshima during the aftermath of the atomic bombing that ended World War II faced long-term consequences to their health due to excess radiation – 12-year-old girl Sadako Sasaki was one of many. Diagnosed with leukemia in 1955, she quickly became bed-ridden and spent the majority of her life post-diagnosis in hospital. Sadako and her friend Chizuko used origami paper, gum wrappers and paper cups used for administering medicine to fold origami cranes, inspired by the Japanese legend sebanzuru; according to the legend, by folding one thousand cranes, one’s wish would come true. Sadako succeeded, folding over one thousand cranes during her time in hospital. The girl passed away, peacefully, in late October of the same year. In her diary during her final days, she wrote of her cranes:
I will write peace on your wings and you will fly all over the world.
Sadako Sasaki, from Birds of Peace
At the beginning of 2022, Kilburn Year 12 Tutor Mrs. Sarah Trotter recounted this story to the Year 12 Kilburnites, who became determined to fold one thousand cranes, just like Sadako Sasaki, and make a wish as a collective. Every two weeks, Day 4 became ‘crane day’, and the entire tutor group would gather and fold as many cranes as possible in 20 minutes, teaching each other the steps along the way. At the end of each week, Mrs. Trotter would gather all the cranes and hang them in groups of ten on string, suspending them from the windowsills and ceiling beams of her classroom, A7.
Eventually, once the count became too large to remember, a tally was started on the whiteboard. Each tutor group, the number rose incrementally, inching closer to the goal of one thousand cranes; the more tangible the goal of one thousand became, the more eager the students became to reach it, folding far beyond Day 4 alone.
As of Week 3, Term 3, the number of cranes folded by PK12 has officially exceeded one thousand, surpassing the expected goal with plenty of school left this year. PK12 plans to keep folding cranes for as long as the school year continues, slowly but surely adorning every corner of Ms. Trotter’s classroom with this symbol of peace.
While the collective wish of PK12 cannot be shared without tarnishing its success, rest assured that its effects may be felt throughout the entire CGGS community.
