Today is the UN International Day of Peace. Let us connect in our hearts with all these people around the world who long for peace and work for peace!
In honour of today, our friends from the gelateria Joylato in downtown Reykjavík had organized an exhibition of children's drawings for peace.
We had to leave Reykjavik rather early to drive back to the point where we stopped yesterday. The chill of the early morning still in the air, we run the last few kilometers to Reykholt through rolling hills covered with farmlands and low bushes. Dave told us a real Icelandic joke: “What do you have to do when you get lost in a forest in Iceland?”. “Stand up”
In Reykholt we were met by the children of the Bláskógaskóli school at their sports field. They enthusiastically joined in our program while the teachers watched the goings on from a small distance with a smile.
The country guessing game was a piece of cake for them. It was agreed previously that we would sing a song for them if they guessed all the home countries of the various members of the team correctly.
After they had done so Suren tried to convince the children that now they should sing for us but they didn’t buy that.
It is always such a good reminder for us adult Peace Runners to behold the wonder with which the children regard the Torch.
It is reassuring to know that the future is in the hands of these peace-loving citizens.
After the ceremony we warmed up inside the school with tea and coffee in the teacher’s lounge
and then braced ourselves to get back into to cold and run the final stretch of the Icelandic Peace Run.
Two friends from two different continents, Nastya and Santiva.
The final destination of our three-day Icelandic adventure was the Flúðaskóli school in Flúðir.
Just checking if everyone's feeling the peace...
What a playground!
Which passport to stamp first?
We find that the older kids enjoy the passport game just as the younger kids.
In Iceland we've scheduled the passing of the Torch after the passport game, so that the kids are warm enough to withstand the crisp September weather.
We really appreciate it when the teachers join in passing the Torch, as it shows their oneness with the kids.
One of the teachers of this school had run with the peace run in 1989 when she was 17 years old. She still remembered it as a very inspiring event and was very happy to receive us now at her own school. We presented her a framed painting of Sri Chinmoy for the school, inspiring Peace and World Harmony. Hopefully it will get a nice place in the school and continue to inspire our new little friends!
What a backdrop for a Team photo!
A rare picture of Unmukta, our photographer.
After the ceremony, we strolled over to a tree dedicated to peace that been planted 5 years earlier by the Peace Run in a little park nearby. We had a little problem locating it, but eventually Danival saved the day.
We closed off this years’ Icelandic Peace Run with a meditation at the tree and then took a group picture. May the world’s peace dream one day bear fruit! In this beautiful country with it’s welcoming people that is not so hard to imagine… Thank you Iceland!
