sep 27, 2016 Live from the road

Nuuk

Reported by Harita Davies, Palash Bosgang

And so begins the first ever Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run in Greenland!

Så er Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run på vej til Grønland for første gang!

Our first sightings of Greenland were from the plane, so uniquely breath-taking!

Helt unikt landskab!

We were a captivated audience from the plane windows!

Flying into Nuuk, the capital city of Greenland, home to around 16,000 people. Nuuk is known as the colourful city, due to all the brightly coloured buildings.

Her er det første blik af farverige Nuuk, Grønlands hovedsted som har 16.000 beboere.

Our Teams first steps on Greenlandic soil!

The flag of Greenland.

What a view from right outside the airport!

In case you were wondering, this is where we are.

When we drove into town, one of the first things we saw was this banner in a busy part of the City Centre welcoming the Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run to Nuuk!

Dette mødte os inde midt i byen når vi ankom!

Sunset on our first night in Nuuk.

Shyamala takes in the beauty of Greenland.

The majestic Sermitsiaq (meaning Saddle Mountain) is a 1,210 metres tall mountain north-east of Nuuk. It is located on an island of the same name in the Nuup Kangerlua fjord, and its unique summit is visible from most places in the city.

Fantastiske Sermitsiaq, smukt bjerg lige udenfor Nuuk.

Could there be anywhere more beautiful in the world to be out in a kayak?

The black spots on the water are actually icebergs.

Our first night was blessed with a spectacular viewing of the Northern Lights in Greenland- so stunning!

Helt ubeskrivelige nordlys!

It was well worth braving the very cold night in order to view this wonderous phenomena.

OH-MY-GOD.

The building in the foreground is the accommodation for our stay in Nuuk, most generously offered to us by the local NSP Sports Club.

Her er holdet indlogeret - Det er NSP idrætsklub som har lånt deres klubhus til os! Meget generöst!

The morning was clear and crisp. We all assumed the "penguin stance" before we could do anything outside!

In order to stay warm a few jumping jacks were in order.

Vi måtte finde på noget for at holde varmen!

Jwalanta from Germany lights the torch for it´s first introduction in Greenland!

Our intrepid leader, Laufey, leads the way to the first school of our visit, Atuarfiat Samuel Kleinschmidt !

På vej til den første skole, Atuarfiat Samuel Kleinschmidt!

Today we met with all the grades separately, beginning with the first graders. The adorable children were quite taken with the Peace Torch.

Vi mødte hele skolen i forskellige grupper, først mødte vi disse børn i 1. klasse. De var ret vilde med fredsfakkelen!

In Greenland most people speak either their native language, Greenlandic, Danish, or both. Luckily our Icelandic leader, Laufey, spent a few years living in Denmark and speaks some Danish!

Peace in the heart is always so precious :)

I want peace!

This girl was the first brave child in Greenland to hold the Peace Torch.

Denne modige pige var den første Grønlandske barn til at holde fredsfakkelen!

Time to go outside and run! For the team it took some getting used to the freezing air, for the local kids it was no problem at all!

The Certificate of Appreciation is most appreciated!

Today we gave 6 presentations altogether at Samuel Kleinschmidt School, to children from 1st Grade up to 10th Grade...that made for approximately 300 high-fives by the end of the day!

Vi gav 6 præsentationer i alt på skolen og mødte omkring 300 elever!

In some cases the teachers kindly translated the presentation into Greenlandic to ensure all the children could understand.

Vi var heldige og taknemmelige for at få hjælp fra lærerne på skolen ved at oversætte til grønlandsk sådan at alle børn kunne forstå hvad vi ville sige.

"I come from a country where the men wear kilts..."

Singing the World Harmony Run Song with actions..."We are the oneness and fulness of tomorrows sun!"

børnene var meget entusiastiske og sang med os - !

The children in Greenland are so affectionate! We all received many spontaneous hugs from our new found sisters and brothers.

Børnene i Grønland er meget kærlige! Vi fik alle rigtigt mange krammer fra vores nye venner!

All the children were issued with their own "passports" which they could get stamped by representatives from the 6 continents of the world. The passports are translated into Greenlandic and were very enthusiastically received. By the end of our visit to Greenland, approximately 2000 children will have their own Peace Run passport.

Alle børnene fik sit eget "pas" som blev stemplet i hvert af verdens kontinenter - som var repræsenterede af Peace Runs medlemmer. Passene var oversat til Grønlandsk og var børnene var meget glade for dem. Når vi har besøgt alle skolerne i Nuuk har nok omkring 2,000 børn fået deres Peace Run pas!

We performed some skits demonstrating what is and is not peace.

Vi demonstrerede hvad der er harmoni og hvad er ikke harmoni!

Around 56,000 people live in Greenland, of which approximately 85% are the Native Inuit People.

Omkring 56,000 mennesker bor i Grønland, og omkring 85% af befolkningen er Inuit.

True peace lovers!

Palash stamps America in this girl's passport.

We eventually reached the 9th and 10th Grade children!

Her er vi sammen med unge der går i 9. og 10. klasse!

A big thank you to Samuel Kleinschmidt School Principal, Marlene Kongpetsak, who whole-heartedly embraced the message of the Peace Run, enabling a beautiful first day visiting the children of Greenland.

Mange tak til skoleleder i Samuel Kleinschmidt, Malene Kongpetsak, som tog varmt imod fredsløbets budskab, som gjorde vores besøg i skolen rigtigt smukt!

Colourful Nuuk!

In the early evening we were treated to a run with Peter, Charlotte and Niels from the local running club, NAAPE, who conveniently meet 3 days a week right outside our accommodation! We ran a spectacular 9km loop around some of the city, which happened to include about 600 stairs...all going up!

Sidst på eftermiddagen var vi heldige nok at få lov til at løbe sammen med Peter, Charlotte og Niels fra den lokale løbeklub, NAAPE, som løber sammen tre gange om ugen. Vi løb en fantastiskt rute i byen på 9 km, som faktiskt indebar 600 trapper..... opad!!

Unbelievably, we were once again treated to an incredible natural light show on our second night in Greenland! For our team who traveled from Iceland, this was the third night in a row, each one more spectacular than the one before! We were all deeply humbled and moved by the power and beauty of this wonderous world that we are blessed to inhabit.

Our deepest gratitude to all the people and forces of Nature that made our first Peace Run day in Greenland so wonderful!

Vores dybeste taknemmelighed går til alle dem som gjorde vores første dag i Grønland så skøn!

Torch carried by
Apaguha Vesely (Czech Republic), Harita Davies (New Zealand), Hridananda Ramón (Colombia), Laufey Haraldsdottir (Iceland), Marc Voelckner (Germany), Palash Bosgang (United States), Prapti Jensen (Canada), Shyamala Stott (Great Britain), Suren Suballabhason (Iceland).  
Photographers
Apaguha Vesely, Harita Davies, Shyamala Stott

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