We had an early start from Vanuatu this morning in order to catch a flight to the next country in our worldwide journey, the Solomon Islands.
Some of us were very busy preparing Peace Run reports from the night before...
On our way into Honiara, the capital, we flew over many of the islands that make up the Solomon Islands...
We are greeted by the aiport by Joe Billy Oge (pictured), Chief Commissioner of the Solomon Islands Scouts Association, and Elvis Kikolo, the Education Inspector for the Honiara City Council.
We were also joined by Glins Clay, the Chief Peace and Reconciliation Officer for the Honiara City Council.
Glins works with the Ministry of National Unity, Reconciliation and Peace.
A big thank you to Linda for helping us get set up with our phones...
And then it is straight on to our first school, Bunscreek SDA, where we had an audience of over 600 students waiting for us!
The principal and our three new friends introduced the runners, before Amalendu gave a presentation about the Run.
We invite the students to feel peace inside their hearts for a moment.
Presenting one of Sri Chinmoy's artworks for Peace to the school....
And then it is time to invite all the students to hold the Torch and make a wish for Peace...
The heavy rain has stopped, so now we can run with the Torch!
Elvis (pictured left) really enjoyed the school ceremony! Here he is with Amalendu and the school Principal, whom we are very grateful to for hosting our visit.
After saying our good-byes, it is on to our next visit...
Some of the heaviest fighting in World War II was done in the Solomon Islands, and there are reminders of that everywhere.
Our next stop was at the Department of Foreign Affairs, where we paid a courtesy call to Undikolo Pebolele Jnr.
And then on to our accommodation...
...where we had a meeting to plan out our busy schedule for the next days. Joe and Elvis - our new team members - are very happy with their Peace Run T-shirts! Now Elvis is visiting the schools for the forthcoming few days to organise things; he says that because he is the schools inspector, they will be a little nervous to see him, but they will be very happy that he is just there to talk about Peace!
And so ends a productive first day in the Solomon Islands! We look forward to telling you all about our upcoming adventures...
