The heart of intricate papercrafts on campus lies with the club members of Paper for Water. The club makes a variation of origami called kusudama, where multiple pieces of paper come together to make one modular piece of paper art. Volunteers and club members submit their kusudama to the club, and in turn the club brings the pieces to the non-profit Paper for Water and sells them. The money goes toward building wells and water fountains in areas lacking clean drinking water.
“[Our] mission is to provide clean water and sanitation projects in countries that need it,” said Tran Tran, co-president of the club and neuroscience junior. “Providing access to clean water really helps in education, stability and general health.”
The club has about 20-30 members and has recently implemented a requirement of making three kusudamas per semester. Requiring intense focus and ample space, their members typically meet in a reserved room in the Sciences Building and spends time developing their skills. Tran said she enjoys seeing the journey that each member goes through, from starting out as a beginner to eventually finding their strengths in kusudama creation and making a difference with their art.
“Paper is very accessible for us and with the origami, we are able to work together in the same space, teaching people and [getting] them involved,” Tran said. “Once you are able to create these things and knowing that your donation eventually makes a monetary difference, that really makes people feel like they have a purpose in this club.”
Claire Wang, neuroscience junior and fellow co-president, said prior to the club forming, the Paper for Water nonprofit had limited involvement with students. Alongside the SMU chapter of the nonprofit, the club focuses on what college can contribute to the cause.
“Previously there were a lot of retirees doing origami, and I think students are such a big voice in terms of advocating for water, advocating for ‘Hey, let’s learn to make origami,’” Wang said.
The club doesn’t require any prior experience and prides itself on the fact. Starting off simple for people new to the world of origami, the club officers set up stations where people can make simple crafts such as paper stars or bookmarks.
“We ask people to come even if they don’t know origami,” Wang said. “At the very beginning, we had rotations where one side of the room would be doing origami and the other side would be doing some non-paper related craft. That way people can get slightly introduced to origami without being fearful of it.”
Origami varies in difficulty, allowing a novice to start with simple creations involving less paper and those more skilled to open themselves to many creative advancements. To the officers walking each member through the papercraft, this too provides a learning opportunity. Making origami is easy for them; it’s the act of teaching it to others that provides a welcome challenge, especially to Tran.
“I have been experiencing origami [at] a younger age [and] I know that how I learn is very different, [where] I can see and understand it because the folds are familiar to me,” Tran said. “When I am teaching someone, I have to ensure that my instructions are easy to follow, they can see everything and going slowly.”
Both Tran and Wang find a personal connection to papercraft through their heritages. For Tran, who is Vietnamese and celebrates Lunar New Year, the festival gives her an opportunity to make crafts as lanterns, paper cranes and folding red envelopes. Meanwhile, Wang’s Taiwanese and Japanese background combine the origins of origami with her lived experience in Taiwan.
“I go to Taiwan every single year, and over there the water is not very clean,” Wang said. “I noticed people are [struggling] with drinking water directly from the tap or going to a restaurant and not having clean water to drink. I am able to channel both sides of my culture, the Taiwanese part in water contamination, and the Japanese with cultural art.”
The club works to be involved in volunteering events such as last year’s Nexus initiative, a shelter for women who have undergone abuse. Setting up a Christmas tree covered with origami decorations, the club found Christmas joy shared among both shelter residents and themselves. The club was also recently sponsored by the Galleria in Dallas to create a hanging cultural exhibition. But as the club’s pursuits grow grander, the essential quality of patience remains for Wang.
“I built [my skills] over time and the act of putting different pieces together made me happy,” Wang said. “It’s so therapeutic, you sit there and make the same piece over and over again. It’s not instant gratification by any means, you take so much time to get there and then it finally comes into form.”
Both co-presidents share different goals for the club, with a united purpose of having a larger presence and impact. Wang said she wants to begin off-campus activities or have vendor involvement and fundraisers to make them well-known. Tran hopes to create a strong community based on people’s willingness to meet and try something new.
“I think a lot of the times when we advertise origami and kusudamas to people passing by, they say, ‘Oh I am not good with my hands, I don’t really do arts and crafts,’” Tran said. “It’s like with math, you are probably really confused at first, but if you know the basics you can probably get through. We want you to be able to trust us so you can make these beautiful creations step by step with us.”
Those interested in joining the club can follow the club’s Instagram and join the Discord server linked there. The next general meeting will be held Friday, Feb 13 at 6:30 p.m. in SCI 3.230.
“I think especially for college students they don’t have time to be doing any of this,” Wang said. “But whenever you give it a purpose, you attract all the people who previously had origami or craft interest and now they have a purpose, and now they’re going to enjoy it.”