Thursday, July 28, 2005



Balqis is a very busy girl nowadays. She has her normal classes in the morning and afternoon each day. Now she also has her musical theatre rehearsals. It's her debut so it has to be good. She plays the crane (a bird the Japanese legends depicts as a symbol of long life)in the ballet segment of the musical. This particular theatre was chosen after a careful & thorough research by Balqis' Mom. I also helped with the art direction of the props. Here is why I chose the story for the school. Please read the story of a girl named Sadako.

(Story is an excerpt from http://www.sadako.org/sadakostory.htm)

The Sadako Story

The paper crane has become an international symbol of peace in recent years as a result of it's connection to the story of a young Japanese girl named Sadako Sasaki born in 1943. Sadako was two years old when the atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945. As she grew up, Sadako was a strong, courageous and athletic girl. In 1955, at age 11, while practicing for a big race, she became dizzy and fell to the ground. Sadako was diagnosed with Leukemia, "the atom bomb" disease. Sadako's best friend told her of an old Japanese legend which said that anyone who folds a thousand paper cranes would be granted a wish. Sadako hoped that the gods would grant her a wish to get well so that she could run again. She started to work on the paper cranes and completed over 1000 before dying on October 25, 1955 at the age of twelve.

The point is that she never gave up. She continued to make paper cranes until she died. Inspired by her courage and strength, Sadako's friends and classmates put together a book of her letters and published it. They began to dream of building a monument to Sadako and all of the children killed by the atom bomb. Young people all over Japan helped collect money for the project.

In 1958, a statue of Sadako holding a golden crane was unveiled in Hiroshima Peace Park. The children also made a wish which is inscribed at the bottom of the statue and reads:

"This is our cry, This is our prayer, Peace in the world".

Today, people all over the world fold paper cranes and send them to Sadako's monument in Hiroshima.




For your information, there is also a Sadako's statue in Seattle Washington, USA.

But, let's also read the letter Sadako's mother, Fujiko Sasaki wrote after the death of her young daughter:



Letter From Sadako's Mother

Come Back to Me Again, Sadako
A Letter from Sadako's Mother, Fujiko Sasaki


No one is lovelier for a mother than the most miserable child. I have four children and I feel very sorry about Sadako most. Already eight months have passed since Sadako died. She was really a miserable child. When she was born during the war, there was not enough food and she weighed only 2250 grams, but she was fine except when she got pneumonia when my husband was drafted. You may laugh at me if I praise her (Translator's note: it is not Japanese custom to praise your family in front of others;), but she was so considerate and thoughtful that I relied on her. She helped me a lot in every possible way. When I can't go to sleep, I often remember my child who got worn out and died and wish I could hug her to my heart's content only once more. In my dream, Sadako says to me, "Leave it to me, mom" and I wake up calling, "Sadako!"

Then I realize it was a dream and I wonder how she is. For a while, I'm lost in my sad thoughts and join my hands in prayer before the tablet of the deceased.

I remember January 9th last year. She showed me a lymph node behind her ear saying "Mom, I think that my lymphatic glands were swollen a little." I thought it. But when she had a check up at ABCC(Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission) in June, 1954, she was told that she was fine, and she was really vigorous and everyone knew she loved doing exercises.

I once thought, "If she has to suffer like this, she should have died that morning on August 6th" (which was the day the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima), but I now think, "I wish she were alive and could be with me no matter how handicapped she was and how heavy her sickness was."

I remember Sadako like I remember yesterday. What I remember most is the time when she was hospitalized.

It was a rare and fine morning at the ground of Nobori-cho elementary school on February 10th, 1955. I remember vigorous children playing, jumping an elastic string. Sadako was enjoying playing it though I thought, "Sadako! You are sick with an atomic bomb disease called leukemia. Oh, no! Why you?"

My husband and I took her to a hospital though she went to school happily with a bag as usual.

Sadako looked fine without knowing that her doctor said she would die in a few months.

After he told us this, my husband and I cried hard near Sadako, who was sleeping peacefully. We were choked with tears and spent the night thinking, "Oh, we wish something could be done. We wish here was something to save her against this illness of Atomic Bomb disease." I squeezed Sadako's hands thinking "If a medicine which could cure this incurable disease in the world existed in the world, then I'd like to borrow money even if it is ten million yen. Or, if possible, let me die for her..."

But we were so poor that we could barely live. I decided to do my best as a mother and love her as much as possible. But eight months after she has passed away, my heart is still choked with sorrow because I couldn't do anything for her.

I appreciate her doctors' efforts, caring for her day and night. When I heard that she would die soon, I bought silk fabric with a cherry blossom pattern and at night I made her a kimono. When I gave it to Sadako, she kept back her tears and said, "Mom, you did too much for me." I asked her to put it on saying, "Sadako-chan, this is my wish, so please put this on." She wiped her tears and wore it and looked very happy.

She knew we were poor though she didn't say anything. She used to say, "Mom, I'm not a good daughter because you have to spend so much money for my sickness..." I'm sure sure she had many things she wanted to buy as a teenager such as new clothes, but she didn't say anything to me and kept it to herself because she knew we were poor.

I coundn't stop my tears when I saw Sadako wearing the kimono because she looked so nice. She watched me saying, "Why do you shed tears? You did too much for me..." We had a dream to buy kimono for her after the war because she had helped me so much. Our dream was realized finally.

One of her classmates, Miss Chizuko Hamamoto, wrote her reminiscence of Sadako as follows;

Sadako looked more beautiful in her kimono because her swollen lymph nodes made her appear as if she gained weight. She wore her beautiful kimono with cherry blossom patterns today. When I said, "You look nicer with Kimono than a dress, Miss Sasaki," she said, "Is that so? Isn't it nice?" But she looked sad. I don't know how Sadako felt about her friend's words, but the kimono became a keepsake.

She believed in a saying that if you fold a thousand cranes, you'd get over your sickness. She folded paper cranes carefully, one by one using a piece of paper of advertisement, medicine and wrapping. Her eyes were shining while she was folding the cranes, showing she wanted to survive by all means.

When my husband and I went to see her, she said, "Dad, I've folded just four hundred paper cranes." He was considerate to her, keeping back his tears.

"How hard her fate is, though she wants to live so much! How pitiful she is though she wants to live so much! Sadako, I want to do something for you by all means," I thought, but there was nothing I could do and I thought tenderly of her.

Looking at the folded cranes which Sadako made innocently on her bed, I almost cried my heart out thinking of Sadako's feelings. I wondered why she was born.

I gave folded cranes that she made sincerely to her classmates and put the rest of them in her coffin as well as flowers so that she could bring them to the next world.

Why didn't you thousand cranes sing? Why didn't they fly?

Sadako, please forgive me. How hard and uncomfortable it was every day. I wonder if you live in comfort in the heaven.

Her classmates, the members of Association of Kokeshi, come every 25th, and are kind to us.

I cried reading letters of reminiscence of Sadako which will be published in a book the other day. I really respect children for their strong love and wish for peace because they made a plan to create a Statue of an Atomic Bomb Child with Sadako's death as a start.

Sadako! The peace you wished for will be realized in the form of a statue of An Atomic Bomb Child, with the help of your classmates such as Masako and Chou as well as children from Hokkaidou in the north to Kyushu in the south.

The statue of An Atomic Child will be built as the symbol of peace on the lawn near Atomic Bomb Memorial Tower in Nakajima where Sada-chan went with father!

Sadako! Listen! Can you hear your friends' strong voices for peace? As the mother of a child who passed away when she was only twelve and a half years old, I'd like to appeal to mothers not only in Japan but all over the world that I don't want such a horrible thing to happen again. So many children are looking for peace.

P.S. The letters are from Record of Atomic Bombs in Japan by Seishi Toyota. (Published by Nihon Tosho Center in 1991)




Now, that's why I chose the story for Balqis and for her school to play and perform at the Musical Theatre competition.

For your information, the kids made the paper cranes to show at the theatre too. We have plans to further present it to the Japanese Embassy where the kids can sing the Sadako Song to the ambassador before presenting the paper cranes as a contribution towards peace.


signing off..Hazelinesnow at 8:30 AM [ | ]

{Takes all sorts to make the world .. the world..}



Sunday, July 10, 2005



One warm Saturday afternoon right after Adam succumbed to his usual afternoon nap, I continued on reading right by his side. Unfortunately, I fell asleep while giving Adam company during his nap. It probably lasted about 10 minutes or so. I was awakened because the temperature suddenly seemed to have been multiplied. I saw that somebody had actually place a blanket over me. Just as I was about to protest, I saw the culprit coming towards me, a teddy bear in hand. I pretended to continue on sleeping. She placed the teddy bear on my arms. Adjusted it several times and positioned it a few times before finally getting really satisfied with the bear. She saw that the blanket is no longer at it's place thus she adjusted that too. The blanket was placed way up high right up to my chin. She cleared my hair off of my face, making sure that all of Mom's hair is in place while ensuring that Mom is comfortable. She planted several kisses -- on my cheeks, forehead and nose. Again, not satisfied with Mom's hair, she brushed off my hair with her fingers to put it back in place.

I continued on the charade until she left. I continued on reading with the blanket off of me. Whew.... Alamak ... she came back in .. heard her sighing and saw her lips in a thin straight line... while she shook her head and adjusted my blanket, again.

The third time she came back into the room checking on me, I didnt pretend. Upon seeing that I was finally up, she smiled and told me that she was the one that'd placed the teddy bear by my side (Mom probably didnt even know might be the rational to the explanation).

Later that day I asked her why she'd placed the blanket and teddy bear for me. She replied ,'Oh ... I saw it on TV the other day. Somebody did that to her Mommy so I do to you lahh ..' Then a few hours later, changed her mind ... 'No lah .. coz you always do that to me ...' But much later on the very same day, she told me ...'Maaa... I love you lah .. that's why I give you the bear and put blanket.'

I rest my case.


signing off..Hazelinesnow at 12:13 AM [ | ]

{Takes all sorts to make the world .. the world..}