Peace Day

Families Celebrate International Day of Peace

By MARGARET NAVA

While she was hospitalized with an illness Japanese people called the “Atom Bomb Disease,” 12-year-old Sadako Sasaki’s father told her an ancient legend about a white crane that had mystical powers. It is believed that anyone who folds 1,000 origami cranes will be granted a wish. Temples in Tokyo and Hiroshima have eternal flames for world peace, where school children and individuals often donate origami paper cranes to add to these prayers for peace. The cranes are left exposed to the elements, slowly dissolving and becoming tattered as the wish is released.

Sadako liked the story so much that she decided to fold a thousand paper birds so that she might get well. In one version of this story, she is said to have completed 645 cranes, while her friends finished the rest. Sadako died in 1955 at the age of 12.

When students at Arroyo del Oso Elementary School in Albuquerque learned about Sadako, they wanted to do something to show that children could make a difference for world peace. In 1989, they began a five-year “Dollar-A-Name” campaign to collect money to build a Peace Statue. By 1995, a bronze globe decorated with plants and animals created by 90,000 children from more than 100 countries had been completed.

Originally, the Children’s Peace Statue was going to be placed in a park in Los Alamos, the town where the first atom bomb was built, but people there objected and it was set up at the Albuquerque Museum. A year later, it was moved to Santa Fe, and in 2013, it was given a place of honor at the Albuquerque Balloon Museum. Every year, children and adults decorate the statue with strings of colorful paper cranes. Many carry the words of Sadako’s friends written on the crane’s wings: “This is our cry. This is our prayer. Peace in the world.”

In the aftermath of the 2012 shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, author and artist Sue DiCicco posted a question on Facebook. She asked, “What would happen if we armed our children with the arts? What if we instilled in them a lifelong passion and a way to express themselves through the arts? Can we turn the tide on our violent culture? I believe we each need to step up to do what we are able to change the conversation and move our children towards a more peaceful world.”

The response was overwhelming, and the Peace Crane Project was launched to encourage students to fold paper peace cranes, write messages on the wings and exchange them with other students to build friendships and make a difference for world peace.

Sept. 21 is the 40th anniversary of the International Day of Peace, a day of peace and non-violence. On this day, people around the world will walk in parades, observe a moment of silence, sing songs and attend concerts and community events. Established in 1981 by a unanimous United Nations resolution, Peace Day provides a globally shared date for all people to commit to peace above all differences and to contribute to building a culture of peace. The theme of the 2021 International Day of Peace is “To Reimagine the World.” As a special outing, consider spending a day at the Albuquerque Balloon Museum. In addition to seeing colorful balloons, children and adults can learn the history and art of ballooning, tour the weather lab and take part in interactive games at the hands-on Elevation Station. They can also create their own peace cranes and hang them on the statue as symbols of peace and love.

In 1931, Mahatma Gandhi said, "If we are to teach real peace in this world and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children."

For more information: The Story of Sadako Sasaki (nps.gov/articles/000/the-story-of-sadakosasaki.htm) International Day of Peace (internationaldayofpeace.org) Albuquerque Balloon Museum (balloonmuseum.com) Peace Crane Project (peacecraneproject.org)

Albuquerque

Adults and children decorate the Children's Peace Statue outside the Anderson-Abruzzo International Balloon Museum. Courtesy photo.