After the Ceremony at Newcastle City Hall we travelled to Charlestown East Public School to be warmly greeted by the School Principal Bruce Bailey

and the Deputy Mayor of Lake Macquarie Paul Scarfe.

The children had been invited to celebrate the arrival of the Run by wearing orange, the traditional colour for “Harmony Day”, an annual event celebrated throughout Australia in April.

We delighted in answering the endless questions about all the details of the Run.

– Anubha Baird (Australia)

Visiting the Public School in the city of The Entrance has been a great experience for each participating runner. What I like in Australian schools is that they wear uniforms, so there is no sense of superiority and all the children are made to feel equal.

As we arrived at the school, the running team were greeted by a long line of children – about a few hundred metres long – each waiting for a chance to high-five the runners as they passed.

They enjoyed the meeting, as kids usually do, but this time they tried really hard to guess the nationality of all the runners and even some of the teachers joined in the game too. Speaking in different languages gives everyone a better perspective and a new view on the variety of world cultures and nations.

- Standa Zubaty (Czech Republic)

Veeraja Uppal addresses the kids at The Entrance Public School

The team with Ramesh Tahkur and family after a great Indian meal at Suraj Indian Restaurant in Newcastle

Team A had the most inspiring place to stay last night, a stone's throw from the beach and surrounded by silent and pure nature. Nick, our host, was a great guy and we thank him deeply. We didn't have time in the morning to find the koalas he had seen the day before but there was a baby kangaroo nearby to see us off on our day:

We dashed off to Newcastle after saying goodbye to our new friends and met Lord Mayor John Tate outside City Hall:

Lord Mayor of Newcastle, John Tate

He offered a strong and encouraging message about harmony and then we gave many, many teddy bears to the representatives of Jenny's Place for the kids they care for. It was a very sweet and heart-warming ceremony.

Dima Lehonkov (Ukraine) below the City Hall clock

Our next stop was Hamilton Public School, where we followed the yellow footprints to the children.

They had a spirited run around the yard and shared their wishes for world harmony with us, and also gave a loud and resounding rendition of our motto for the kids in other parts of the world to hear: "Harmony begins with me!"

Then over to Hamilton Public School South to present them with the torch, to sing the song and share the message of oneness and friendship:

The Principal and some of the team

kids from Hamilton South

passing the torch

I would like to leave the day's report with a few impressions I felt from the kids today, in our visits to their schools, full of so many bright and eager lives:

optimism...

curiosity...

joy...

straight-forwardness...

soulfulness...

dreaming...

wondering...

confidence...

sweetness...

thoughtfulness...

eagerness...

prayerfulness...

and finally, after a long day....sleepiness.....goodnight!

– Prabhakar Street (Canada)

Team Members:
Prabhakar Street (Canada), Edi Serban (Romania), Standa Zubaty (Czech Republic), Sandro Zincarini (Italy), Runar Gigja (Iceland), Misha Kulagin (Russia), Dima Lehonkov (Ukraine), Veeraja (Uppal (Australia), Angela Muhs (Germany), Anubha Baird (Australia), Nataliya Lehonkova (Ukraine), Garbitashri Webster (New Zealand)

Harmonemail:
You can send a message to the runners or read the messages.