Today was a very eventful day in very hot and humid weather. It was already in the 80's F (or about 28 C) before noon and reached 95 F (about 31 C) by the afternoon. Our first event took place near the campus of Florida International University (FIU) At a primary school called David Lawrence, Jr. K-8 Center. It is a very new and colorful facility with plenty of space both inside and out. We started our day indoors in a small television studio created for the children to administer daily news reports to each classroom via closed circuit TV.

We were guests on the morning report today as we were introduced by the very dynamic school Principal, Bernard Osborne. He came jogging into the studio, circling the two young newscasters as they made announcements for other aspects of the school schedule for the day. After our own introductions and brief description of our purpose here, we went outside to join Principal Osborne and 12 year old Alex, a serious runner in the school, for a run along the campus to the athletic field. We were greeted by many children and teachers along the way as well as over 600 children in the stadium seats. As we made our way around the track we were cheered enthusiastically by all the excited children and teachers as well as some of the parents.

The children executed their own torch relay around the track with each child running a short distance and passing the torch, simulating the efforts of the runners around the world. The program went very well with great organization by Mr. Osborne and Blanca Cespedes-Correa, the Assistant Principal.

Nora Kracer, head of the PTA who introduced the idea to the school and has two of her own children attending there. We are grateful to everyone at David Lawrence School for such an enthusiastic welcome and for all the work that went into this event including the artwork , the news program and the running relay. It was a powerful moment when 600 children and adults chanted with us our motto, Harmony Begins With Me.

The next event took place at the Ben Franklin Community School in Miami. Thanks to Dr. Christine Allen, teacher of advanced academics who organized the event for us, we were greeted by about 300 students and staff members in the auditorium which, fortunately for us, was air-conditioned, as the temperatures were in the mid 90's F. The torch was carried in as we ran with some selected children who read out their short comments on harmony. The event included flags of various countries as the capital of each country was read out by Mrs. Allen. The children very enthusiastically sang our theme song and chanted our motto before the teachers ran the torch around the perimeter of the large room, led by Mrs. Allen. By this time the children were ecstatic, cheering their favorite teachers on and trying to encourage others to join in.

It was a very uplifting ceremony at Ben Franklin School as some of the children did not want to leave the auditorium. Four enthusiastic children carried our flag and marched around the room chanting harmony in a spontaneous act of creativity and joy. We are grateful to all the children and staff members, especially Christine Allen, who made this a memorable event for us.

After a long afternoon break which included a rest at our dear friends and local coordinator, Durjaya and Dristhi, we went to the Atlantic Ocean at the Bal Harbor Beach. We did some running and swimming there in the crystal clear and blue tinted water which was perfect temperature for relaxing before our next ceremony.

The temperature cooled down quite a bit by early evening as we made our way to nearby Hialeah. Lunthita Duthely, our good friend and local coordinator there, set up a wonderful outdoor ceremony with the help of ththe Hialeah Parks and Recreation and JFK Library. Maria Gomez, Chayma Gomez and Edelys Blanco all helped to create an international atmosphere in a large filed by the library. Seven different stations were set up to represent the seven continents of the world. Each one had artwork and related materials to each of the respective continents. We were led into the field by Chayma Gomez who carried the Torch as we stooped at each continent picking up more runners for the relay 'around the world'.

After the short run, we has a short program of singing and some dancing by a group of young dancers. As we sang our theme song and chanted our motto, even the parents joined in enthusiastically. There was also a beautifully framed proclamation which was singed by Mayor Julio Robaina proclaiming May 4 as World Harmony Run Day in Hialeah on behalf of its 240,000 residents. Before leaving this exciting event, we were kindly offered bottled water which is like nectar here in the hot southern Florida, and some delicious pizza.

We would like to thank Lunthita and all those involved in organizing this event and all the participants as well, including our two good friends, Jeremy and Durjaya, who also took care of royally as we have spent these last few days in the Miami area.

Arpan and Team Harmony

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