Sadako Sasaki, a 12 year old girl, from Hiroshima, got sick with leukemia when the atomic bomb devasted her city. But she strongly believed in the Legend of the 1000 cranes, and as soon as she found out she was sick, she started folding.
It is said that the little girl reached her goal and continued even after, despite the fact that her health didn't get any better..
She died making over 1300 cranes, but in the meantime, she became driven by a different and a higher goal - "I shall write peace on your wings..", she said to her cranes, "...and you will fly over the World".
The paper crane became an international symbol of peace.
In the center of Hiroshima, a monument raises in the honour of Sadako - the Children of Peace monument. On it, a few words lay silent, but powerful:
"This is our cry. This is our prayer. Peace in the World."
I finished my own 1000 cranes, and I admire and honour Sadako's memory even more now, after realising how much work it involves completing such a project. And I've got my health and my youth while doing this, when she was just a child batteling a terrible illness..
I did this for myself and I did this for her.. I pray her story will never be forgotten and her wish, her higher wish.. will never be abandoned.
