Book Review: My Story: When I Was Three and Noriga-San: The Doctor Who Loved to Learn

My friend, Ched Magaspar is a Peace volunteer. The volunteer group she belongs to is The Sunday Peace Volunteer of the Horoshima Peace Park Initiative. Their group has been at work with peace talks, storytelling and sharing of peace projects with volunteers, NGOs and educators from all over the globe. 

One of their more successful projects is the publication of a children's book, My Story: When I Was Three, a collaborative book project by Kunihiko Ida, Naomi Nakagoshi, Almira Raymundo and Ched Magaspar. It tells the story of Kunihiko Ida who is an atomic bomb survivor. His story, though very tragic, is filled with resilience and inspiration. War is never a pretty topic to explore but the beauty of the human spirit to survive is always at its core. Apart from this compelling book, Ched has written another one, Norinaga San: The Doctor Who Loved to Learn. Through this picture-story book, young children are informed about the folk hero of Matsusaka, Motoori Norinaaga. The narrative is honest and direct to the point. The illustrations are beautifully crafted capturing the nostalgia and the simple, but noble beauty of Noringa-san's life. 

 It is a joy to have these books for my personal library. A precious gift from one storyteller to another!

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Isang post na ibinahagi ni Zarah Gagatiga (@zarah815)

A Virtual Visit to the Hiroshima Peace Park

My friend, Ched Magaspar who teaches in Japan is a volunteer for the Hiroshima Peace Volunteers. For more than a year, their volunteer organization has conducted projects promoting peace in Japan. They have published books and stories online and have reached out to partner organizations abroad. Their  recent project involved the distribution of a story books about survivors of the Hiroshima bombing to schools in the Philippines.

Last weekend, Ched invited me as observer in a virtual walk through of Hiroshima Peace Park. The volunteers told stories of their volunteer work, the rituals in Hiroshima that they conduct to commemorate the dead and the victims of war and oral stories they gathered from those who have passed on. There was no hate. Only love. It was a restorative experience.

The event was in coordination with REAL Innovative Connections who organized a group of 5th grade classes in Hawaii and New Jersey. Teachers were touched and the families of the grade school students were thankful to hear these stories from an era that seemed too far off now. Yet, the issues of violence, racism, genocide and authoritarianism are so real to this day. How these issues destroy families, societies and thousands of lives. 

We need to hear these stories. We need to heal from the wounds of the past. The Hiroshima Peace Park Volunteers' stories need to be heard.

We are doing something about this.