At the beginning of May, when many of us were still socially isolated, the Rotary Club of Holdfast Bay embarked on a project that would not only connect members of the Club but would eventually connect people within our local community and across the globe.

The 1000 Paper Cranes project was initiated by Natsumi Oda, a Rotary Foundation Scholar from Japan who is studying a Masters of Social Work at Flinders University. Natsumi is sponsored by the Rotary Club of Ogaki Naka and hosted by the Rotary Club of Holdfast Bay.

In Japan there is a tradition to make 1000 paper cranes to send a message of peace and healing - Senbazuru.  The goal was to make the 1000 paper cranes and bring them together in a piece of art by the end of June.  With the support of Brighton Central Shopping Mall Natsumi and Rotarians set up a display over two weekends in May. Members of the community were invited to make a crane at home and bring it back to the mall to contribute to the 1000 cranes artwork. 

Other organisations including the Australia Japan Association of SA and Flinders University International Students Services came on board to help us reach our target and at the beginning of June we had our 1000 paper cranes. Rotarians and partners from the Rotary Club of Holdfast Bay, and friends from the organisations listed above, participated in several working bees to thread the 1000 cranes and on June 26 the Positivity Tree was assembled at Brighton Central where it was on display until July.  The 1000 Paper Cranes Facebook Group was also created and over 230 members from across the globe are posting photos of their paper cranes as well as positive messages of peace and healing .