Tuesday morning, June 28 started for us in the Park of Friendship at New Belgrade. We ran with great enthusiasm to unveil the Plaque which is dedicated to the Danube Peace River, which has rhymes written by the founder of the Peace Run Sri Chinmoy engraved in it, “A moment’s peace can and shall save the world.”
Jutro utorak 28. juna započelo nam je u Parku prijateljstva na Novom Beogradu. Dotrčali smo sa velikim entuzijazmom da bismo otkrili Ploču sa posvetom reci mira Dunavu na kojoj su uklesani stihovi osnivača Trke mira Šri Činmoja: “Trenutak mira može da spase i spasiće svet.”
Although the event was extremely joyful for us by itself, Leontina's childrens' choir "The Magic" brought us lot of extra joy.
Mada je ovaj događaj već sam po sebi veoma radostan za nas, Leontinin dečiji hor “Čarolija” nam je još pregršt radosti doneo.
They sang us an athletic song too…
Pevale su nam i sportsku pesmu…
The Director of the Tourist Organization of Belgrade, Mr Miodrag Popovic added honour to our ceremony and unvieled the plaque “Danube Peace River” together with the Peace Run President for Serbia, Mr Predrag Knezevic.
Gospodin Miodrag Popović, direktor beogradske turističke organizacije uvećao je našu svečanost i zajedno sa predsednikom Trke mira u Srbiji, Predragom Kneževićem otkrio tablu “Dunav reka mira”.
Thus, part of Danube flowing through Serbia joined a large family of the “Sri Chinmoy Peace Blossoms” which encompasses locations of great beauty, many of them protected by UNESCO. We hope that Danube will be proclaimed soon as a Peace River in all 10 countries it's flowing through, in its full length.
Tako se tok Dunava kroz Srbiju pridružio velikoj porodici “Sri Chinmoy Peace Blossoms” koja obuhvata lokalitete izvanredne lepote, a mnogi od njih su pod zaštitom UNESCO-a. Nadamo se da će uskoro ceo tok Dunava u svih 10 zemalja kroz koje protiče biti proglašen rekom mira.
We also used the opportunity to express our heartfelt gratitude to the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications, as well as to the National Assembly of Serbia, who gave full support to the project and who also recognized the importance of it. We are also grateful to the Public Utility Company Greenery Belgrade. Without their help and support we couldn’t have done it.
Iskoristili smo priliku da se od srca zahvalimo Ministarstvu trgovine, turizma i telekomunikacija kao i Narodnoj skupštini Srbije koji su svesrdno podržali ovaj projekat i prepoznali njen značaj. Takođe se zahvaljujemo i JKP Zelenilu Beograd bez čije podrške i pomoći ne bismo mogli.
And then members of the choir created magic joining their hands and cheerfully dancing around the Plaque.
A onda su članice hora napravile čaroliju uhvativši se u kolo i radosno zaigrale oko Ploče.
We all wanted to make a record of the moment with a plaque…
Svi smo hteli da ovekovečimo trenutak sa pločom…
At the end one group photo of all participants...
Na kraju jedna zajednička fotografija svih učesnika..
We ran through the Park of Friendship to the “Eternal Flame” and admired the plaques which were placed near the trees planted over the years by many important world figures in the sphere of politics, sport, culture, art… and they all left a message of peace and friendship in our city.
Protrčali smo parkom prijateljstva do “Večnog plamena” i divili se pločama koje su godinama postavljali uz svoje sadnice mnogi značajni građani sveta iz sfere politike, sporta, kulture, umetnosti … i svi su ostavili poruku mira i prijateljstva u našem gradu.
And although we could explore and enjoy ourselves for a long time in the shades of beautiful trees in the Park of Friendship, we still hurried to the National Assembly of Serbia where we were received with great honour, like many times in the past.
I mada smo mogli još dugo da razgledamo i uživamo u senci predivnih sadnica u parku prijateljstva ipak smo požurili ka Narodnoj skupštini Srbije u kojoj su nam kao i mnogih godina pre priredili svečani doček.
Jovana Prekovic, our Olympic Gold medalist, was with us this time. She was honoured to carry the Torch into the hall of the National Assembly.
Ovog puta sa nama je bila naša zlatna olimpijka Jovana Preković, njoj je pripala čast da unese Baklju mira u hol Narodne skupštine.
A longlasting friendship with prof. Vladimir Marinkovic, phD and the greeting of reception. He welcomed us and said that Peace Run in Serbia already became a true tradition.
Dugogodišnje prijateljstvo i dobrodošlica od strane prof. dr Vladimira Marinkovića koji nam je poželeo dobrodošlicu i rekao da je Trka mira u Srbiji već postala prava tradicija.
He wished the runners lots of success and expressed our country's support and a wish that peace would rule the world. Individually he greeted our champion Jovana Prekovic who joined our team today.
Poželeo je trkačima puno uspeha i izrazio podršku naše zemlje i želju da u svetu zavlada mir. Posebno je pozdravio našu šampionku Jovanu Preković koja se danas pridružila našem timu.
Then the representative of the European Peace Run, Mr Nicholas W. Chanakhya expressed gratitude for the warm reception in our country and particularly for the reception at the Assembly.
Zatim se predstavnik evropskog tima Trke mira, gospodin Nicholas W. Chanakhya zahvalio na toplom prijemu u našoj zemlji i posebno na prijemu u skupštini.
Following him spoke the President of the Peace Run in Serbia, Mr Predrag Knezevic, who expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the National Assembly and to all the municipalities we are running through this year, following the current of the Danube river, and who each and every did so much to make this years Peace Run in Serbia magnificent. “With your selfless support we are successful in transferring our message through sports: the message of peace, oneness, friendship, love and tolerance among people in the world.”
A posle njega obratio se i predsednik Trke mira za Srbiju, Predrag Knežević koji se takođe od srca zahvalio Narodnoj skupštini i svim opštinama kroz koje ove godine prolazimo prateći tok Dunava i koje su svaka sa svoje strane učinile mnogo da ovogodišnja Trka mira u Srbiji bude veličanstvena. “Uz vašu nesebičnu pomoć uspevamo da prenesemo našu poruku kroz sport: poruku mira, jedinstva, prijateljstva, ljubavi i tolerancije među ljudima sveta”.
“Founder of the Peace Run, Sri Chinmoy, loved to appreciate and honour people and in a way to reward these individuals who offered and are still offering their tireless efforts to contribute to the betterment of the world we are living in. For that purpose he established the Torch Bearer Award and for that purpose we wish to hand it to you, because you, Mr Marinkovic are one of those people who enormously contributed to the Peace Run in the world.”
“Osnivač Trke mira - Šri Činmoj je voleo da oda priznanje i da na neki način nagradi pojedince koji su se neumorno trudili i trude se da doprinesu unapređenju sveta u kome živimo. Zbog toga je i ustanovio ovu medalju Trke mira i zbog toga želimo danas da je uručimo Vama, jer ste Vi gospodine Marinkoviću jedan od tih ljudi koji su dali ogroman doprinos Trci mira u svetu.”
Let us lift up the Peace Torch high and let it lit our way and lead us into a better and happier world, world without war and suffering.
Podignimo visoko Baklju mira neka nam osvetli put i povede nas u jedan lepši i srećniji svet, svet bez rata i patnje.
Then all the runners introduced themselves with a round applause from everybody present.
Zatim su se svi trkači redom predstavljali uz veliki aplauz svih prisutnih.
Brasil...
Brazil...
Germany...
Nemačka...
Austria... And so on... from Croatia, Canada, Great Britain, Hungary, USA, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Latvia, North Macedonia, Ukraine... Present were some proud team members from our country too.
Austrija... I tako redom... iz Hrvatske, Kanade, Velike Britanije, Mađarske, SAD-a, Bosne i Hercegovine, Letonije, Severne Makedonije, Ukrajine... A tu su bili i ponosni članovi tima iz naše zemlje.
And then some photo shooting with the Peace Torch
Usledilo je fotografisanje sa bakljom mira…
Our dear friends...
Naši dragi prijatelji...
And at the end, a group photo with everybody present miraculously filled with great joy and gratitude.
A za kraj, jedna zajednička fotografija svih prisutnih koji su, gle čuda, bili ispunjeni ogromnom radošću i zahvalnošću.
In the afternoon we visited the Museum of Nikola Tesla
Popodne smo posetili Muzej Nikole Tesle
Sri Chinmoy Peace Trees in Tasmajdan
Stabla mira Šri Činmoja na Tašu
Later on we had a lunch with our friends and spent the rest of the day in Belgrade just relaxing ...
Kasnije smo ručali sa prijateljima i opušteno proveli ostatak dana u Beogradu...
