Former United States President, Barrack Obama once said, “The future belongs to young people with an education and the imagination to create.”
Adolescent girls at Rongo Primary School in Rabuor, Kisumu County, were ready to learn and create when the Armstrong team joined them on the 2nd of October for the Peace Crane Project.
Started in late 2012, the Peace Crane Project was birthed after the terrible mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary school, where 26 people died, 20 of them children aged 6 to 7 years old.
The project aims to build friendships, strengthen hand-eye coordination, writing skills, teach geography and expose students to new languages and cultures, empowering them to make a difference in their community.
“We want the girls to grow up understanding the importance of peace and to shun violence against any group or person no matter how different they are from them,” explained Elva Ondiek, Armstrong founder and director.
After distributing the manual and materials to the 58 girls aged between 12 and 16, the Armstrong team explained the importance of the Peace Crane project and how to make the origami cranes.
Origami, the Japanese art of folding paper into elaborate art was a new concept to the girls; however, they were not deterred and keenly watched the demonstration from Armstrong as well as their own peers who managed to demonstrate with no guidance.
They were then divided into groups of 10 and all groups managed to come up with excellent shapes.
After making the cranes, the girls then wrote a message of peace on the wings which will be exchanged with other students within their communities and across the globe.
It was an activity the girls enjoyed and expressed that it was something they would like to continue with into the future.
