Memory Keepers

How do we remember so we don't repeat our sustainability mistakes.

History books share some, but not the whole story. So how do we ensure that sustainability related stories and first-hand accounts are not lost? Documentaries are one way. Another is using memory keepers. It has been over 76 years since the US dropped the first atomic bomb over Hiroshima. While nuclear bombs haven’t been used in combat since, many countries are still spending billions of dollars on new forms of them. The number of survivors, along with their personal accounts of what happened and why we cannot let this happen again, are dwindling. The city of Hiroshima has been training volunteer memory keepers, or denshosha, to be able to retell these survivor stories without sensationalizing them. The training takes three years to “become almost like a translator to fill the gap and bridge between the generations”.

+ How could students and staff become memory keepers for sustainability?