Youth give hope to others, fight discrimination

  • Published
  • By Stephen M. Fuller
  • 71st Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  When Kim Winfield, School Age Coordinator at the Vance Air Force Base Youth Center, received information about the Hope Trunk project, she had no idea the youth would be so energized and motivated by the concept.

The program, The Hope Trunk: an offering of positive education, uses the story of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City to educate students about the senselessness of violence and the importance of finding a more peaceful means to solving differences.

Founded by the Oklahoma Memorial Foundation, the Hope Trunk program uses seven metal boxes sent to educators of youth programs statewide to teach about the effects of discrimination. Each box contains items from the site designed to illustrate a sense of realism surrounding the event. Pieces of bent metal and patches from some of the workers who volunteered with the cleanup show the force of the bomb.

Children look at the items and describe what they mean to them.
The most eye-catching objects in the box however, are the colorful paper cranes that cascade from the box when the lid is removed.

"They stand as a symbol of hope for the victims of the bombing, and continue to stand today against discrimination," said Mrs. Winfield.

The idea for the cranes was formed when an anonymous individual sent a copy of Sadako Sasaki and the Thousand Paper Cranes. The book illustrates Ms. Sasaki's struggles to fold 1000 paper cranes before Leukemia claims her young life.

This book was so inspiring to the families of the victims and the workers, they used it as a tool to fight discrimination. Cranes, ancient symbols of strength and vitality, were a natural choice for carrying the project on their paper wings. They stand as timeless symbols of hope for preventing future atrocities.

Armed with an initiative to help and inspired by the valiant spirits of the workers who were at the site, the youth at Vance began folding cranes. "Everyone helps," said Mrs. Winfield. "Everyone participates, even the kindergarteners. The kids find it exciting and motivating to help with such a great cause. We have a motto here: 'Everyone can help. Every fold is important. Without each fold, a crane cannot happen'."

Despite the difficulty of the task, the youth were prepared to work hard to spread the noble spirit the crane embodies to others.

"Folding cranes is not an easy thing to do," said Mrs. Winfield. "We have each child complete a process. For some children, especially the kindergarteners, the only process they have to do is fold the paper in half. They put it back in the box and the next person comes and carries on from there. We have some children that have mastered it so well that they make tiny ones a quarter of the size of a regular folded crane."

When enough cranes are folded, Mrs. Winfield delivers them to the memorial in Oklahoma City. The cranes are then distributed in boxes to new classrooms where the students can choose to keep some of them as a reminder of the harsh consequences of discrimination.

Recently, the children folded 125 cranes that were sent to the Virginia Tech campus in Blackburg, Va., where 33 students were shot and killed in April this year. As a token of thanks, maps of the campus and town were sent to each child.

"The idea that they have a chance to stop another Oklahoma City bombing from happening somewhere is what drives these youth to give much of their play time folding cranes," explained Mrs. Winfield. "With each fold they make, they are giving hope to others."