Friday, May 6, 2022
“It’s ok if you all need help,” I tell them. We’re folding an origami fortune teller. My fingers feel the white printer paper and the children around me shape their colorful construction paper. Just a couple of hours ago, we transformed the Trinity Community Center to a green jungle using paper rolls, construction paper, glue, and our hands. Now, the local children from the Hollygrove neighborhood are keeping cool under the dense jungle from the bright New Orleans sun. But this is no ordinary jungle, this is a jungle full of potential.
“I need help making a square. Can you help me, please?”
“You fold it like this, right?”
“What else can you make?”
The children ask me questions. It’s 5 pm, their school day has already ended; yet, they still seek answers. This is our third full day in Louisiana and today we are volunteering in the Trinity After School Kids program lasting from 3-6 pm. While the inside of the Trinity Community Center is decorated with green paper, the outside is marked with a horizontal blue line 5 feet above the grass. Now this is the waterline of hurricane Katrina that occurred 17 years ago.
Inside, the children, ranging from ages 5-11, finish making their fortune tellers. We fold the four corners of the square to the center of the paper. We then repeat the process to shape the paper to an origami fortune teller. The children are shaping their world. Today, the children created their own fortune tellers. But what makes this origami model different from others is the ability to write your own fortunes in the paper.
“You’re cool”
“Be my friend”
“You’re ugly”
“You can now fly”
Everyone is free to write anything on their paper. The children wrote on their paper and played with it until their parents came. In the near future, these children, along with many more in this country, will find themselves upon the fortune tellers of society. Whether or not we spread words of encouragement or act on behalf of oppression, what we write down on our paper will affect the life of these kids.
– How to make a fortune teller
Materials: One square paper of any color. One writing utensil.
Step 1: Fold the four corners of the paper to the center.
Step 2: Flip the paper around then fold the four corners of the paper to the center again. This creates a smaller square.
Step 3: Fold and unfold the square in half both ways, horizontally and vertically.
Step 4: Open the paper up using the crease lines and make sure the 4 flaps spread out.
Step 5: You are now free to write anything on your fortune teller. I would recommend choosing words of love over hatred.
-Eduardo Gonon