This week was quite a special week with 800 origami cranes packed in two large boxes and sent from Greenville, Ca, to Hope School. The elementary students there started folding paper cranes two years ago and decided to send some to Hope School accompanied by cards and letters. This was quite an event in Greenville, a small town in the Sierras, north of Tahoe. Don Lee's wife, Reverend Mc Donald had a lot to do with this. WEll, when we unpacked the first box our prinicpal, Solomon Nour, just shook his head because the cranes were grouped in plastic bags on a string and you could only see lots of grocery bags with string coming out every direction. I had to pick up the second large box in the Post Office in Jerusalem and dragged the box into the #21 bus in Jerusalem to return to Beit Jala. Fortunately the driver let me put the box next to him because there was not any room in the small bus. I was so relieved. Anyway, after untangling and hanging 800 cranes we put a string of them in the chapel and the next morning I gave a "chapel talk" during which I explained the origins of origami and told the students that the cranes represented a wish for Hope and Peace for the students of Hope School. Furthermore each crane also was accompanied by a prayer. I was afraid the kids would find it silly because almost no one had even heard about origami. I told the story of Sadako, a young Japanese girl who survived the atomic bomb in Hiroshima, and folded over a 1000 cranes in the hope that she would be saved from dying of leukemia, brought on by the radiation of the atomic bomb. Sadly she died, but her story became famous by way of a book that had been written about her life. I was touched by not only the gesture of the Greenville students, but also by our students' eagerness to have a crane, and by the reaction of the adults.The cranes were quite the talk of the school and how wonderful that something like this can happen, thanks to a dedicated elementary teacher. What a lesson for all of us. One string has remained in the chapel to remind us that we are all conncted in magical ways and that support for each other can come from far away places. I personally have felt that support from my family and friends at home, but also have been supported here in many kind ways. My love goes out to all of you and know that I am deeply grateful to be here, even though life is diffcult around me. It is amazing how resilient the human spirit is. yvonne