Our motto for the Peace Run is “Peace begins with me!”
What does this mean? Where to find peace? How to build it? How to keep it? …
These and other similar questions may sometimes rack an adult`s brain, but never a child`s innocent heart. It is always moving to watch the children`s response to the message of peace: they feel, they know that peace means harmony, love, joy, friendship, calm, non-violence, non-war...
Also, they can so naturally grasp this ideal and apply it to their lives:
“I will not tell lies.”
“I will not bully my brother/sister/colleagues.”
“I will help with the work around the home.”
“I will smile to everybody.”
“I am going to become a peaceful person.”
These are only a few of their practical ideas.
Today the peace runners visited 6 schools. Each school is for the students a 'field' of knowledge and formation, a formative encounter with the 'real world'. The efforts of the teachers always focus on creating harmonious and generous personalities. Probably this is why they usually thank us for our programs and appreciate highly our own efforts to raise the awareness about peace ...
Our girls team started our day with a visit to Leaning Tree School, a Montessori school in Geraldton ...
... we really loved our visit to Leaning Tree. We discovered how musical all the children are at Leaning Tree – they had already learned one of the Peace Run songs!
We were so surprised and delighted when they joined in singing with us with such beautiful voices ...
... Safron, Neisa and Kayla did a fantastic job of holding up our banner throughout the whole presentation ...
... Lauren presented us with some beautiful peace-themed artwork the children had prepared ...
... and accepted the Certificate of Appreciation on behalf of the school ...
... we all went outside for the passing of the Torch ...
... and a run around the field ...
... we were impressed also with the student's garden!
A big thank you to the Principal, Stephanie ...
... and also to Jessica Rock from the Geraldton Guardian who attended the presentation.
We then made our way across town to Allendale Primary School, where Deputy Principal Richard Dowse and all the Allendale students greeted us with such enthusiasm ...
... another musical school, the children all sang the Australian National Anthem to us! We all love to hear songs from the schools we visit.
School captain, Erin Lucas accepted the school’s Certificate of Appreciation.
We really loved meeting everyone in Geraldton this morning ...
... thank you all, you gave us the energy we needed to start covering our kms today!
At the same time, also in Geraldton, one of our boys teams was visiting St Francis Xavier School ...
... we were welcomed by Deputy Principal Murray Gardiner and introduced to the 300 attentive students in their covered assembly area. Udayachal made his debut as lead singer and taught the children the World Harmony Run song. He did not look as nervous as he claimed to be later ...
... the children had prepared for our visit with a large display of their artwork on peace ...
... and some of the smaller children read out their poems and showed us their artwork which they then donated for us to take to the next school ...
... after forming a huge circle on the oval, we passed the Torch to each student and teacher ...
... we then 'led' the children in a run around the oval (one of the most controlled runs we have seen) ...
... and were farewelled by rousing cheers and made our way ...
... to our next school engagement ...
... at Geraldton Primary School.
We were received by the Deputy Principal, Rachel, who was very enthusiastic about her school which is the oldest continually operating school in Western Australia – established in 1878.
After our presentation Shane Van Styn, Councillor of Greater Geraldton Shire spoke to the children encouraging them to embrace the message of the Peace Run. We presented a Certificate of Appreciation to the Council ...
... and also to the Geraldton Primary School which was accepted by Lexi and Chae.
Without their hats, the children stayed under cover for the Torch passing. They also asked a lot of interesting questions.
Rachel invited us to the staff room for a cup of tea to fortify us for the running ahead.
We drove away from Geraldton knowing we would not be seeing a city that large until we reach Darwin ...
It was a busy morning for us, as straight after our Geraldton school visits, Anubha gave two radio interviews over the phone ...
... after such a morning, it was quite a contrast to be out on the road and amidst Nature once more ...
It was Steve's turn today to find his "Namesake Street" ...
Drinking in the serenity ...
Up ahead, our boys team 'B' had been running this morning while the others were visiting all the schools in Geraldton: now we were about to arrive in Northampton, and it was our turn to visit ...
... Northampton District High School, where we met about 100 students ...
... their wondering minds found satisfaction while one of 'those guys in uniforms' (Sukhajata) was calmly presenting our team and the ideals of the Peace Run ...
... this audience was very receptive ...
... and the shining faces indicated that the peace message easily resonated in their hearts ...
Passing and running with the Torch are most desired by the children, should we only mention this possibility ...
Thank you all, friends – students and teachers. Now each of you is a Peace Runner ...
After our girls had been running for a few hours we also passed through Northampton, where we made several new friends. Gail Livingstone at the Information Centre gave us some local information about the area ...
... and provided Oyungerel with a phone to call home!
Eddie (and Marie, not pictured) who are heading home after spending time in Broome, gave us some encouragement on our way ...
... and a very special couple, Trish and Paul Keyes, who after holding the Torch, offered the Peace Run a generous donation and told us to introduce our Mongolian and Czech team members to their favourite Australian power snack – TimTams! You can imagine how happy we all were to hear that!
Boys 'B' team had by now departed Northampton and were forging ahead up the coast ...
... to the hamlet of Binnu ...
Binnu Primary School was a special experience for us ...
... the children not only gladly received Steve`s presentation (his first one – congratulations Steve!) ...
... but also had prepared something special for us in return. First they formed a choir to sing for us a beautiful song – 'All We Are Saying Is Give Peace A Chance'.
Then they showed us the artworks they specially drew, expressing their thoughts and feelings on peace. After this they sweetly recited these lines for the audience ...
The teachers here did a great job, as did all the students – and we are grateful to them for remembering the last time when our Torch Relay visited them, in 2008!
... a truly uplifting visit!
Meanwhile, the girls' mission to find the TimTams before the long journey to Billabong Roadhouse tonight, saw us also stopping in at Binnu – at the General Store, where we met Doug who held the Torch, sold us some TimTams and even gave us a free lighter! (Lighters are extremely important to the Peace Run as we use them to light our torches.) Only 3 people live in Binnu, so we were very happy to hold the Peace Torch with one third of the population!
Emily thought she had better 'road test' Trish and Paul's advice in regard to the TimTams, to see if they really do put an extra spring in the step of the weary runner ...
In the afternoon, Pathik from Czech Republic had the surprise to meet two co-nationals, Michal Mali and his sister Martina Mala. Michal is studying in Perth and invited his sister to visit him in Australia. They were heading North to discover the beauty of the beaches along the Indian Ocean ...
Our boys 'A' team was by now well and truly on the road, running the last 70 km stretch into Billabong Roadhouse, through fairly flat country with a lovely shoulder to run on when trucks were passing ...
... we now judge roads by the kind of shoulder they have on the side of the road ...
... the shoulder of the road is not only our primary running surface, it can also be the place where we wait for the runner, make phone calles (where there is reception) ...
... and even learn songs!
With almost ideal running conditions, we made very fast progress this afternoon and reached Billabong Roadhouse in just over 3 ½ hours ...
Initially we were going to be camping here at Billabong Roadhouse, but the kind Manager Phil, upgraded us to lovely cabins – there had been a deluge that morning and there was no dry ground ...
... the whole team are extremely grateful to receive this generosity and we will all be better rested for tomorrow’s run into Carnarvon ...
... especially after a wonderful evening meal prepared by our Czech chefs Lumir ...
... and Udayachal ...
