A moment of peace before starting our daily run today.
On the way to our first destination arranged by Rupasi, our 'ace' coordinator for Missouri for the last few days.
Our first stop of the day was at the High Ridge Elementary School in High Ridge, Missouri
A group of young girls called 'Girls on the Run' carried the Peace Torch on a mini-Peace Run around the schoolyard.
Some of the children made colorful signs on the theme of peace and proudly displayed them for us.
Santiva from Mexico leads the children in an exercise of feeling peace in our hearts and letting it spread to all those around us.
The children then had to guess our countries with clues from all the runners. New York, U.S.A. was an easy guess the most of the children.
Students and teachers all enjoyed learning and singing our World Harmony Run song with actions, composed by Sri Chinmoy, Founder of the Peace Run.
We would like to thank Principal Heidi Mackey and her staff, teachers and all the children for their enthusiastic participation in the Peace Run with us.
We honor the teachers for their dedication to the children and for their efforts at offering them the best possible opportunities to learn and to become good citizens of the world.
The teachers run a few laps around the hall to the delight of all the children.
'Girls on the Run' and the Peace Runners together in oneness and peace.
Happy and peaceful children getting a chance to hold the Peace Torch.
Homagni carries the Peace Torch on his first day joining after his arrival.
Jozsef happily finishing his run in a heavy downpour.
As we entered the city of Cuba we stopped at the Cuba Coffee shop. Justin and his daughter offered us some great coffee and scones made fresh at their small but beautiful coffee shop.
At the next school, Cuba Elementary, the gymnasium was filled with over 400 enthusiastic and excited children and teachers.
It was amazingly quiet as over 400 children joined us in feeling peace deep inside our hearts.
These two students are from Mexico where our Peace Run teammate, Santiva is also from.
The teachers gathered for a few laps around the gymnasium as we honored them for their dedication and service to the children,
Principal Joe Cross reads out our Certificate of Appreciation for their enthusiastic participation today.
A wonderful group of runners came out to see us off to our next destination.
Meeting friendly people along the way who stop to offer their goodwill and wishes for peace.
We ended the day visiting the City Hall and The Crawford County Museum where we met some very welcoming and friendly people.
Everyone had a chance to hold the Peace Torch and offer their goodwill and wishes for a more harmonious and peaceful world.
Even some of the city's finest construction crew came out to share the Peace Torch and offer their goodwill and wishes.
Mayor Kevin Copling and his wife, holding the Peace Torch, with some of the staff of the City of Cuba. They welcomed us with open arms and even took us on a guided tour of their wonderful County Museum.
Dennis Roedemeier offered some very inspiring stories about the history of the city of Cuba including the history of the Osage Native Americans who first settled in this area over 800 years ago.
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A typical Osage family hut.
Vestiges of another era.
On behalf of the city of Cuba Mayor Copling and Mr. Roedemeier offered very thoughtful gifts expressing their gratitude for us coming through their city and sharing with them the peace and harmony that we all feel is so important for world peace as well.
After our tour of the museum Mayor Copling invited us all to dinner at a wonderful restaurant called Dottie's, which happened to be directly across the street from our hotel.
We are extremely grateful to the Mayor and his wife for being so kind, generous and hospitable to us today in their fine city of Cuba.
When we arrived back at our motel we saw a beautiful rainbow. A true representation of our peaceful and uplifting experiences in Cuba today.
A beautiful tribute to the Native Osage people who settled here many centuries ago was just across the street from our hotel. This, along with the rainbow, added to the truly auspicious experiences we have had today in the city of Cuba.
