Today we started running from Holland's beautiful capital of Amsterdam. Amsterdam is one of the most international cities in the world, with inhabitants from over 180 different countries!

The peace-bird flew ahead of us today.

Before the start of our run a local television station interviewed us.

"This, ladies and gentlemen, is the famous Peace Torch!"

On our way to the first school: Montessori school 'Boven 't IJ'.

We had a great time with the kids. Many remembered us from 2009, when we came here as well. It's always a joy to come back!

Peace is cool!

A run around the school concluded our meeting. Thank you and see you again someday!

Holland has many waterways - and many boats.

After about 20K we arrived in the small town of Edam, world-famous for its Edam cheese.

It was a beautiful day and many were enjoying the warm sunshine.

At 'De Nieuwe School' ('The New School') in Edam children eagerly awaited us in the schoolyard. They were an amazing group, very interested and inspired by what we are doing and very well-behaved!

They listened attentively and participated with enthusiasm in all our games and songs. Something very special about this school: they have regular meetings in the class with the teacher and make decisions together about the school rules and policies. They only decide something when everyone agrees on it. For instance, they are allowed to wear a baseball cap in class and they can sometimes listen to music if they are working alone. Real democracy in action!

Peace is joy!

The children managed a whole minute of pin-drop silence for peace and world-harmony. We were really impressed with their concentration!

Some children had created meaningful poems about peace, which they read out.

The joy of face stamps!

And of course, the joy of running.

Thank you De Nieuwe School for a truly uplifting meeting. Hope to see you again in the future!

The school had prepared a sumptuous lunch for us inside. The kids later came and joined us.

We ran on passed flowers and sheep to end the day in the town of Bergen.

In the 'Ruinekerk' church we had the final reception and ceremony of today.

We were greeted with thunderous applause by the church members.

While we all sang the World Harmony Run song together the Torch went from hand to hand.

The singing was accompanied by beautiful and powerful organ playing...

...as well as piano. They sang many beautiful songs for us. All were extremely musical. And we were deeply touched by their generous reception.

Reverent Engele Wijnsma was the architect of the meeting and organized the whole ceremony. He excels in making every church service a unique experience and always thinks of new concepts to illustrate his sermons. Recently he gave a sermon involving the story of the Titanic - he had real rubber boats in the church! Because of the original and inspiring way he conducts his sermons we gave him the Torch Bearer Award. Originality such as his is a rare thing and deserves our genuine appreciation.

Thank you Engele Wijnsma and the members of the Ruinekerk for an unforgettable experience! We treasure this meeting in the very depths of our hearts.

</p>
<hr size="2" width="100%" />
<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/maPwzfHtASQ" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>
<p>
<b>Video Message from Davidson Hepburn,</b><b> President </b><b> (2009 - 2011) </b><b>of the General Conference</b> of<b> </b>the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization<b> (UNESCO)</b> for <b>25th Anniversary</b> of the World Harmony Run and a vision for the decade: <b><i>&quot;Toward a Oneness-World&quot;. </i></b>
</p>
<p>
Full Text of the 25th annversary message and link to 25 language informal Translations: <a href="/25" target="_blank">http://www.worldharmonyrun.org/25</a>
</p>
<i><b>or Click on language button for separate youtube videos wth sub titles in varous languages</b></i>
<p>
<a href="/25/bulgarian" target="_blank">
</a>
</p>
<p>
<a href="/25/bulgarian" target="_blank">
</a>
</p>
<p>
<a href="/25/bulgarian" target="_blank">
</a>
</p>
<p>
<a href="/25/bulgarian" target="_blank"><img src="/images/global/history/2012/lang-tab-bulgarian-90-47.jpg" class="thinglinkTooSmall" height="47" width="90" /></a><a href="/25/chinese" target="_blank"><img src="/images/global/history/2012/lang-tab-chinese-90-47_0.jpg" height="47" width="90" /></a><a href="/25/croatian" target="_blank"><img src="/images/global/history/2012/lang-tab-croatian-90-47.jpg" class="thinglinkTooSmall" height="47" width="90" /></a><a href="/25/czech" target="_blank"><img src="/images/global/history/2012/czech/lang-tab-czech-90-47.jpg" class="thinglinkTooSmall" height="47" width="90" /></a><a href="/25" target="_blank"><img src="/images/global/history/2012/lang-tab-english-90-47.jpg" class="thinglinkTooSmall" height="47" width="90" /></a><a href="/25/finnish" target="_blank"><img src="/images/global/history/2012/lang-tab-finnish-90-47.jpg" class="thinglinkTooSmall" height="47" width="90" /></a><a href="/25/french" target="_blank"><img src="/images/global/history/2012/lang-tab-french-90-47.jpg" class="thinglinkTooSmall" height="47" width="90" /></a><a href="/25/german" target="_blank"><img src="/images/global/history/2012/lang-tab-german-90-47.jpg" class="thinglinkTooSmall" height="47" width="90" /></a><a href="/25/hungarian" target="_blank"><img src="/images/global/history/2012/lang-tab-hungarian-90-47.jpg" class="thinglinkTooSmall" height="47" width="90" /></a><a href="/25/icelandic" target="_blank"><img src="/images/global/history/2012/lang-tab-icelandic-90-47.jpg" class="thinglinkTooSmall" height="47" width="90" /></a><a href="/25/italian" target="_blank"><img src="/images/global/history/2012/lang-tab-italian-90-47.jpg" class="thinglinkTooSmall" height="47" width="90" /></a><a href="/25/japanese" target="_blank"><img src="/images/global/history/2012/lang-tab-japanese-90-47.jpg" class="thinglinkTooSmall" height="47" width="90" /></a><a href="/25/korean" target="_blank"><img src="/images/global/history/2012/lang-tab-korean-90-47.jpg" class="thinglinkTooSmall" height="47" width="90" /></a><a href="/25/mongolian" target="_blank"><img src="/images/global/history/2012/lang-tab-mongolian-90-47.jpg" class="thinglinkTooSmall" height="47" width="90" /></a><a href="/25/nepali" target="_blank"><img src="/images/global/history/2012/lang-tab-nepali-90-47.jpg" class="thinglinkTooSmall" height="47" width="90" /></a><a href="/25/norwegian" target="_blank"><img src="/images/global/history/2012/norwegian/lang-tab-norwegian-90-47.jpg" height="47" width="90" /></a><a href="/25/polish" target="_blank"><img src="/images/global/history/2012/lang-tab-polish-90-47-2.jpg" class="thinglinkTooSmall" height="47" width="90" /></a><a href="/25/portuguese" target="_blank"><img src="/images/global/history/2012/lang-tab-portuguese-90-47.jpg" class="thinglinkTooSmall" height="47" width="90" /></a><a href="/25/romanian" target="_blank"><img src="/images/global/history/2012/lang-tab-romanian-90-47.jpg" class="thinglinkTooSmall" height="47" width="90" /></a><a href="/25/russian" target="_blank"><img src="/images/global/history/2012/lang-tab-russian-90-47.jpg" class="thinglinkTooSmall" height="47" width="90" /></a><a href="/25/serbian" target="_blank"><img src="/images/global/history/2012/serbian/lang-tab-serbian-90-47.jpg" height="47" width="90" /></a><a href="/25/spanish" target="_blank"><img src="/images/global/history/2012/lang-tab-spanish-90-47.jpg" class="thinglinkTooSmall" height="47" width="90" /></a><a href="/25/ukrainian" target="_blank"><img src="/images/global/history/2012/lang-tab-ukrainian-90-47.jpg" height="47" width="90" /></a>
</p>
<i><b> See also:</b></i>
<ul>
    <li>Youtube video on <b>African experience</b> which illustrates IYY slogan &quot;Our Year Our Voice&quot;  <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6qehMiIWuY" title="International Year of Youth - Zambia World Harmony Run" dir="ltr"><b>International Year of Youth</b> - <b>Zambia World Harmony. </b></a>They surprisingly mention Presidents and UN Secretary-General in a unique way!
    </li>
</ul>
<ul>
    <li>Listen to the World-Harmony-Run song:
    <a href="http://www.radiosrichinmoy.org/c_/audio/radio/103/103-3-1.m4a" target="_blank">
    2 min version</a> // <a href="http://www.radiosrichinmoy.org/c_/audio/radio/103/103-38-1.m4a" target="_blank">6 min  </a>
    </li>
</ul>
<p>
<img src="/images/global/song/whr-2011-borchure-song--mar-25-700-298.jpg" height="298" width="700" />
</p>
<p>
<img src="/images/global/banners/2012whrbanner-640-200.jpg" height="200" width="640" />
</p>
 

– Abhinabha Hidde Tangerman

---

Distance: 61 km

Team Members:
Dipavajan Renner (Austria), Sandro Zincarini (Italy), Sumahat Strohn (Germany), Mladen Vujaklija (Croatia), Vladimir Ilyasov (Russian Federation), Namitabha Arsic (Serbia), Layamut Tehrani (Austria/Iran), Endre Olah (Hungary), Dutch runners (Netherlands)

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

Gallery: See more images!

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