Bob Randall joins the company of legendary athlete and Mayor of the Gold Coast Ron Clarke; and former Governor-General Sir William Deane in becoming a National Patron for the 2008 World Harmony Run.

"Uncle Bob" is one of the listed traditional owners of Uluru, where he lives in the Mutitjulu community, literally in the shadow of the Rock. At Bob's invitation, a small team from the World Harmony Run spent a few days at Uluru with the Mutitjulu community for the Symbolic Opening of the Run for 2008, prior to the commencement of the round-Australia Run in April.

Accepting the invitation to be a National Patron of the Run, Bob said:

"I thank you very much for the offer and I willingly and gladly accept, because what you stand for is an ultimate reason why we're here on earth - to live in peace with love for one another and care - learn to care for all living things, care for each other, care for our environment and care for everything else that is around us, so that we can apply the principles of Kanyini* to all life forms, because we are all one... and our living together - and life - is the proof of that oneness. I thank you and I accept your offer."

* Kanyini is a Pitjantjatjara word - according to Bob, "Kanyini is best expressed in English as the combination of the two words ‘responsibility’ and ‘love,’ but it is actually a relationship; it is an enormous caring with no limit – it has no timeframe: it is eternal... The interconnectedness of my belief system, my spirituality, my land, and my family ... I've got to connect with each of these to be whole..."

Read more on Kanyini here.

Bob was born around 1934 and spent his early childhood living in the natural, traditional way with no clothes and no cares. At the age of 7, like thousands of others he was taken forcibly from his mother and placed in a community in Arnhem Land, thousands of miles away. He never saw his mother again.

Watch Bob tell part of his story here:

As he grew up, he worked at various jobs including as a carpenter, stockman and crocodile hunter. He learned the white man's culture and way of life and lived in the cities and various parts of Australia.

Always a story-teller and singer-songwriter, Bob gained national fame in the 1970s through his song "My Brown Skin Baby (They Took Him Away)," and was later inducted into the Australian Country Music Hall of Fame. His autobiography is called simply: "Songman."

In 1970, Bob helped establish the Adelaide Community College for Aboriginal people and lectured at the college on Aboriginal cultures.

He served as the Director of the Northern Australia Legal Aid Service and established Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander centres at the Australian National University, University of Canberra and University of Wollongong. He continues to present his cultural awareness programs at schools and other institutions and in workplaces. His life-long efforts were recognised in 1999 when he was named 'Indigenous Person of the Year.'

Having featured in numerous films, radio shows and documentaries, Bob's 2006 collaboration with film-maker Melanie Hogan 'Kanyini' won the Best Documentary at the 2007 London Australian Film Festival: a compelling narrative of life, meaning, purpose and belonging, told with dignity, beauty, simplicity and compassion.

After breakfast on Bob's back verandah looking up at Uluru, Bob took his guitar and sang his classic song "Daddy Where I Come From?" for our most appreciative team.

The World Harmony Run team is extremely grateful to Bob for inviting us to Uluru and for being such a loving, caring and generous host, accepting us into his home as family. His heart is as wide as the sky above Uluru; his wisdom, compassion and kindness as vast as his landscape. Truly a great and good Australian soul.

– Prachar Stegemann

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