Early this morning we boarded a boat and headed to another island...
...leaving busy Malé behind for a while.
The boat trip took about 40 minutes on a speed boat...
...after which we arrived at Maafushi, one of the first inhabited islands to welcome tourists few years ago.
Leaving our bags at accommodation we headed straight to Maafushi school. We do like the school values.
The students seemed to like our skits - we do these to show in a playful way what is peaceful and harmonious and what is not.
Where can you find peace? It only takes a moment to feel your heart and become more peaceful and understanding.
Ms. Muzu was incredibly helpful in organising our very last minute presentation. Children will now have 4 days of holidays.
It was an honour for us to visit your school and the Certificate of appreciation is our way of thanking you for kindly welcoming us. We also presented a "World Harmony" painting by the founder of the Run, Sri Chinmoy. We hope it will remind you of our visit and of the value of peace and the need to work on achieving more peace every day, in our own lives and in our community.
Students formed a big circle to pass the flaming torch representing the flame of love and friendship and yearning in our own hearts.
It is always a magical moment...
...that creates a lot of joy and brings a lot of smiles.
Everyone then participated in a run around the hall...
...with the torch being passed around.
Say PEACE :-)
Thank you to principal Abdul Nasir.
We then ran to the Island Council building where council president Mr. Usman Rasheed kindly received the torch on behalf of Maafushi Island.
Thank you for welcoming us to your island!
After that it was a time to run around the island which is about 1.5km long and 500m wide.
We were able to admire some of the local fauna...
...and flora...
...as well as to meet with friendly locals.
These ladies just finished their water workout and were happy to share their wishes for peace.
Meeting with more locals...
...and tourists...
...explaining what the run was about.
After running around the island we still had some time so we decided to go snorkeling.
On the way we stopped at a sandbank that was slowly being flooded with the high tide.
It was an interesting experience to be sitting on this tiny strip of land with water all around you.
Snorkeling was amazing with many different kinds of fish.
We saw Nemo family...
...as well as a reef shark.
The sun was setting and the whole atmosphere was very peaceful.
These locals do the snorkeling trips and many more water sport activities. Thank you for showing us your beautiful paradise.
