From February 21 through March 14, 2010, The Dominican Sisters ~ Grand Rapids, Culture of Peace Committee will host the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Poster Exhibit at Dominican Center at Marywood.  Running concurrently with the poster exhibit, there will be a meditation room and a place to make paper cranes--a Japanese symbol of world peace. Some of the paper cranes will go to Hiroshima for display at the Children's Peace Monument.

In conjunction with this extended exhibition, there will be a thought provoking one-time event on the evening of Sunday, February 28, 2010. The February 28 event will include an internet video conference with an hibakusha--an atom bomb survivor.

Yoshinori Kato, artist of the drawing at right, describes the event with these unforgettable words: " I could not rescue the children trapped under the schoolhouse being engulfed in flames.  One little girl was almost out--I could have placed my cheek next to hers and pulled her clear except for the arm pinned under a pillar. I told them in my heart, 'You'll be safe from harm soon' and placed my hands together in prayer."

The threat of nuclear weapons is real.  We must never forget the clouds of fire that incinerated 220,000 humans in August of 1945, and we extend an invitation to all peace-seeking organizations and individuals to join with us as sponsors.  Please consider collaborating with us as a co-sponsor. Click to download the sponsorship form.

By Rosemary Steers, Communications Specialist - Dominican Sisters ~ Grand Rapids