A Swedish Girl’s Wish: Making One Thousand Paper Lotus Flowers to Help End the Persecution

Accompanied by her mother, twelve-year-old Elvelina attended the activities that Nordic Falun Gong practitioners held during the Easter holidays. She had a dream during the night of March 26th 2005. She dreamt that if she could make one thousand paper lotus flowers, the persecution against Falun Gong practitioners in China would end. She told the dream to her friend, another girl of the same age, when she woke up in the morning. The two girls started folding paper lotus flowers right away.

The lotus flowers they folded were unique. Some were very vivid and had silver-edged petals whilst others had golden buds. Every lotus flower was filled with the young girls’ compassionate hope. They wanted to send these meticulously-made lotus flowers to the people of the world and remind them “The world needs truthfulness, compassion and tolerance”.

After hearing about this touching story, a Falun Gong practitioner told them, “Your dream represents a wonderful wish. The wish will come true when it’s really strong.” The practitioner continued to say that she was born in North Korea and moved to Sweden after being adopted. Her biological mother would fold a paper crane whenever she missed her daughter because she was told that her wish to see her daughter again would come true if she could fold one thousand paper cranes. She did fold one thousand paper cranes and saved them in a jar. She was eventually united with her daughter thirty years later.

Elvelina’s dream will not remain a mere dream for ever: it will become a wonderful reality in the future. The two girls planned to continue making the lotus flowers after returning home. Along with their compassionate blessings, they will distribute the thousand lotus flowers to people in activities this summer. Their idea inspired other children. Everyone was eager to provide help.

The adult practitioners were deeply moved by the children. They indicated that they would provide all kinds of colour paper so that the wonderful dream of the children could materialise as soon as possible.