Making Butterflies: Embracing Diversity and Resilience in San Gabriel

Sophie Pu, second from the left in the back, showing people how to make the paper butterflies (Photo – Cheryl Cabot)

Three mass shootings in one week, two within 24 hours, weighed heavily on the hearts of a mother and daughter Sophia Pu and her mother, Kathay Feng.

By Cheryl Cabot

Sophia Pu and her mother, Kathay Feng, of San Gabriel felt the need to do something positive in the wake of these senseless deaths, something which would counteract the pain and fear. But what could they do?

The answer came in the shape of butterflies. A friend from San Francisco told them about the Butterfly Effect Project.  Mother and daughter got to work.  Within a few days they had organized a table at the San Gabriel National Night Out and spread the word to come make butterflies. And come they did! They came first out of curiosity, then with a sense of fun, and finally with a sense of hope when they were told the purpose of the little paper butterflies.

All evening long, kids and adults of all ages folded squares of colorful paper, wrapped them in pieces of pipe cleaner and tied them to branches to fly gently in the evening breeze. There were smiles and laughter, and people kept folding bits of paper to make butterflies even in the fading light.

“The reason behind us deciding to take on the Butterfly Effect Project,” Sophia explained, “was that we were so scared after the shootings in El Paso and Dayton that we felt like we needed a way to help the community heal. As a lot of people know, San Gabriel is home to a large population of immigrants and, with so much hate being directed towards communities like ours, we wanted to let people know that we cared.

Sophia added:

We make butterflies because they are a symbol of hope and freedom, and their colors are what make them beautiful.

They travel across countries for better living conditions, a lot like immigrants coming into the US.

The project will continue on August 24^th at the San Gabriel Library, 500 Del Mar Avenue in San Gabriel, from 1-3 p.m. Individuals and groups are encouraged to come and make butterflies. This is part of a larger project in San Francisco, and the butterflies will be sent up to the Bay Area before September 1st to be displayed around that city.

“The goal,” Kathay said “is to make 1,000 butterflies that celebrate our many communities and journeys.”  Strings of butterfly origami (“kaleidoscopes”) will be hung in the San Gabriel Library.