Marianopolis and the Legend of a Thousand Cranes
To commemorate the 400th anniversary of the birth of Marguerite Bourgeoys, last September Marianopolis College launched the Crane Project. This initiative is based on the story of Sadako Sasaki in Eleanor Coerr’s novel Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. It is about a Japanese girl who is diagnosed with leukemia caused by radiation from the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. She is inspired by the Japanese legend that says that if a person folds a thousand paper cranes, her wish will be granted. Today, Sadako’s story and the symbol of the crane are associated with world peace.
In the context of this project, students were invited to make origami cranes that will be turned into garlands and strung across the school’s library. As of December 16, they had collected 2000 cranes! In November, other related activities included a reflection on the themes of the book (hope, friendship, family and peace) and, in January, the creation of a Whishing Wall where students could write a wish for themselves or for someone else on one of three large sheets of papers that will latter be folded into giant cranes.
The Crane Project has been officially endorsed as part of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan's 90th Anniversary of Japan-Canada Diplomatic Relations. This endorsement helps recognize our formal partnership agreement between Marianopolis College and our sister school in Fukushima, Japan, Sakura no Seibo Junior College.