Peace Week 2014

We learnt about Sadako Sasaki, a Japanese girl that lived in Hiroshima when the atomic bomb was dropped. She was diagnosed with leukemia as a result of her exposure to the bomb. As part of an old Japanese legend, Sadako tried to fold 1000 cranes so that she could be granted a wish. It is unsure how many cranes she managed to fold before she died in October 1955. The children in her class at school raised money for a special memorial for Sadako and all the children that died from the atomic bomb. It is called the Children's Peace Monument and is situated in Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, Japan. It has a statue at the top of Sadako as well as an origami crane. At the bottom of the statue there is a plaque, which has a message from the children, which reads, "This is our cry. This is our prayer. Peace in the World."
We worked with Room 7 first to learn how to make an origami crane.  Then on Friday, we got into our Whanau Groups and made our own special peace cranes with the Juniors. We are continuing to make them this week and hope to get to 1000. The cranes will then be thread onto fishing line and displayed in the school.
A big thank-you to Hayley for the wonderful photos.