Sameer plays with the cranes he received

By Meeta Gaitonde

31 children in a fourth grade class. What would they have to offer to a person struggling with leukemia? Some pretty special things, as it turns out – hope, optimism, and a reminder of the power of community.

It was a normal spring afternoon in my classroom in Menlo Park, California. 2pm, Social Studies. I was teaching my students about the Japanese tradition of origami and crane making. A student raised her hand, “Like in the book Sadako and The Thousand Paper Cranes?” Sadako was a 12-year-old victim of radiation exposure from WWII in Japan. Taking heed of a Japanese legend that states that if a sick person folds one thousand paper cranes, the gods will grant her a wish, Sadako began the long process of folding cranes to be healthy again.

My students were so moved by the story that they felt compelled to fold one thousand cranes…but they didn’t know whose health to make their wish for. Tentatively, I told them that I had a friend who they might like to dedicate their cranes to. Eager to help, they pressed me for Sameer’s story.

The result was one of the most touching efforts of creativity and goodwill I have seen in my years as a teacher. My students were addicted to making paper cranes for the remainder of the year. They made them at home, they asked for time in class, they made them during recess. They made each crane with the thought of health for Sameer, for their teacher’s friend with leukemia – someone they’ve never met but who they felt an instinctive desire to reach out to. Over the course of weeks, the cranes piled up until they were delivered to Sameer last weekend.

www.helpsameer.org