'Hiroshima is an old story.'
By Bev Eikenberry

"Hiroshima is an old story," I said to my husband as we contemplated our answer to a call to serve as directors of the World Friendship Center. "The world's eyes are on places like Israel and Iraq. No one cares about Hiroshima any more."

We came to Hiroshima in spite of our question about its relevance. We came because we wanted to support the center's mission of peace. What we discovered about Hiroshima, however, surprised us. Aug. 6, 2005, will mark 60 years since the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. In those 60 years Hiroshima has remembered the devastation and has cared for those who suffered because of it. Out of this remembering, the people of Hiroshima live committed to peace and reconciliation. For 60 years Hiroshima has been talking, living, working...making peace.

Hiroshima is a relevant place because of a decision made only a year after experiencing total devastation. Hiroshima decided to rebuild as an international city of peace. Making that statement alone is commendable, but the city actually lives out its goal. Examples are countless. Before a performance of the Messiah last December, the principal of a school encouraged everyone in the audience to do what they personally could to make peace. A high school music teacher organizes small public performances in the Peace Memorial Park, where peace songs are performed, poetry is read, and a microphone is passed for individuals to express thoughts and opinions. The major newspaper supported sending five delegations around the world to engage people in discussions about making peace. The mayor is organizing a conference of mayors from around the world to meet in New York in May 2005, when the non-proliferation treaty is revisited. Others are interpreting for British prisoners of war from World War II, who are returning to their places of internment through a program called "Agape." In one village, the Japanese raised a monument in their honor, and some of the POWs have experienced a healing peace for the first time in their lives.

Survivors of the atomic bomb tell their stories of growing beyond bitterness and hatred to reconciliation and a goal of "No more Hiroshimas!" Those who are able to tell their stories do so because of a passionate desire for others never to experience what they did. They have traveled a journey deep within themselves that leads to the understanding that the real wrong is not atomic weapons, nor any particular nation or people. The real wrong is war itself.

We feel humbled at the sight of an entire city seriously working at peace and reconciliation. Hiroshima is a voice of reason and compassion crying in the wilderness of a world at war. The voice is soothing and full of hope. Hiroshima, we have discovered, is not an old story. Hiroshima is the story we wish will be our future.

On Aug. 7, 1965, 20 years after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the World Friendship Center was started by Barbara Reynolds, an American Quaker whose compassion for those suffering from radiation spilled over into a passionate desire to help all of us avoid a similar tragedy. Brethren Volunteer Service trains and supports the volunteer directors, usually a married couple, who live at the center and provide hospitality for nearly 125 guests a month, teach English classes, and visit a nursing home for survivors of the atomic bomb. The directors also direct the daily operations of the center with the help of a bilingual staff person. Joel and Beverly Eikenberry, Church of the Brethren members from North Manchester, Ind., currently are serving as directors of the center through BVS. In May, Don and Pauline Hess from Virginia will begin a two-year term as directors.

The American Committee for the World Friendship Center seeks volunteers to serve at the center--contact Larry and Alice Petry at 330-733-2879 or e-mail petryvilla@aol.com. The American Committee also hosts Peace Ambassadors--or PAX teams--who visit Japan and the US to spread the message of peace. Contact Mary Ann Albert at 574-834-3406 or e-mail cwamaa@maplenet.net.

--Brethren Volunteer Service worker Bev Eikenberry and her husband Joel serve as directors of the World Friendship Center in Hiroshima, Japan.

Source: 12/03/2004 Newsline