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 The purpose of my visit to Quang Ngai was to meet some of the victims of Agent Orange and to discuss with them some ways we might be helpful as they try to cope with this difficult situation. I was accompanied on the trip by Ms. Dinh Thi Vinh, long time colleague with MCC Viet Nam.
We traveled by car west from Quang Ngai city with members of the Viet Nam Association for Victims of Agent Orange (VAVA) into the foothills of the Truong Son Mountains. Our hosts in the VAVA were Vietnamese veterans of the war who are also victims of Agent Orange. The fields that once could grow no food because of the toxins were now filled with lush green rice paddies. The countryside was alive and thriving. Nature seems to have a way of healing itself much easier than humans can. Mountains that once were covered only with dead tree stumps now are covered with thick green forests. After the war ended in 1975, the government began a reforestation program to bring life back to these mountain areas. Those efforts were obviously successful to some degree.
Before leaving Hanoi for Quang Ngai, I had shared with Ms. Vinh that in 2008, members of the Turpin Mennonite Church in Oklahoma used a church curriculum that focused on "The Things that Make for Peace." They learned of a tradition in Japan of folding origami peace cranes to remind us that peace takes patience and persistence.
The folding of origami cranes as a symbol of peace can be traced back to a young girl named Sadako Sasaki in Japan, who died of leukemia ten years after the atomic bombing.
Sadako was two years old when she was exposed to the A-bomb. She had no apparent injuries and grew into a strong and healthy girl. However, nine years later in the fall, when she was in the sixth grade (1954), she suddenly developed signs of an illness. In February the following year she was diagnosed with leukemia and was admitted to the Hiroshima Red Cross Hospital. Believing that folding paper cranes would help her recover, she kept folding them to the end, but on October 25, 1955, after an eight-month struggle with the disease, she passed away.
Now people all over the world fold peace cranes to symbolize their prayer for a true peace and for the healing of those who suffer from war.
I suggested to Ms. Vinh that I might give some of these peace cranes made by the Turpin Church to the victims of Agent Orange in Quang Ngai. She enthusiastically agreed. But as I sat with these new friends and heard their stories, I began to feel uncomfortable. Amidst all of their serious needs, how would they feel if the gift I gave them was a simple small paper crane? They needed food, health care, ease for their suffering and a recognition by the U.S. companies that there is a responsibility for producing poisons that so negatively affect human beings.
As I hesitated, Ms. Vinh leaned over and said, "Why don't you give one of the cranes to them now?" A bit self-consciously I reached into my bag and took out one of the cranes. I explained the meaning of the crane and that people in a small rural church halfway around the world had folded these cranes to express their own dreams of peace. I further explained that this is a symbol that is meant to bring us together and that every time they look at it they can be reminded that they have friends in far away Oklahoma.
The response was immediate. The crane was received gently and with deep interest.
"This is a symbol of unity," one man said. "Together, if we unite, we can build a better world."
"I'm not sure we can take on the world," I replied. "But at least between you and my home community we can come together."
"We have to build a better world," he repeated. "This symbol can help us do that."
So, the simple cranes folded by a small Mennonite congregation have begun their journey of peace. More will be scattered to many part of Asia and each time their story and their dreams will be shared. Even though they are small and seem powerless, they carry a very powerful and important message, like that given to the prophet Elijah:
"The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave (1 Kings 19: 11-13)."
We live in a very conflicted world and yearn for a sense of peace and security. The massive military machines of our world are paraded before us with the promise that they will make us safe and secure. But peace is not in them. Politicians shout out their ideologies, promising that they have the answers to our yearnings. But peace is not in their shouts and empty promises. Then peace comes to us in the form of a small, simple crane, folded with caring hands and strengthened with hearts that wish to share God's peace with others. Our hope lies in these small things, for God can work through them in ways we cannot even imagine.
For instructions on folding a peace crane, see <http://www.fcpj.org/PaperPeaceCrane.pdf>.
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