THE World Peace Run came to Namibia this week to spread the message of world peace and universal brotherhood.
The World Peace Run is an initiative that was founded by Sri Chinmoy in 1987 with the aim of promoting understanding and the harmonious relationship between peoples of all nations, faiths and cultures.
Since then thousands of international runners from all over the world have participated in the Peace Run which has now taken place in more than 100 countries.
As part of the run, participants carry a torch and regularly meet with dignitaries, civic leaders, community groups or schools to spread the message of peace. Past participants have included Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, Mikhail Gorbachev and the nine-time Olympic gold medalist, Carl Lewis.
On Monday, five athletes from South Africa undertook the first World Peace Run in Namibia when they carried the Peace Torch to the Waldorf School and the Dagbreek School for the Intellectually Impaired.
The group consisted of brothers Balarka and Abhijatri Robinson, who are both civil engineers, the husband-and-wife duo of Clifford Kian (a software developer) and Penny Nam (another civil engineer), and business owner Shree Chirkoot.
According to Balarka, their aim is to create awareness about world peace.
“It’s a grassroots peace initiative to bring people together in the spirit of sport. We meet locals or civic leaders in schools and talk about peace. If we have peace in the world all our problems will go away,” he said.
He said all of them had done numerous Peace Runs throughout southern Africa and further afield, but this was the first time that a Peace Run had been undertaken in Namibia.
“We are all volunteers and have been doing the Peace Run since 2006 in places like South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana, Zambia, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Once we went briefly to Katima Mulilo, but that wasn’t an official Namibian run and since then we wanted to come back to Namibia, because it’s a very special place,” he said.
The Peace Run started early on Monday morning when they visited the Waldorf School and according to Balarka they received a fantastic welcome.
“The Waldorf School performed our song for us which was just spectacular – it’s a song composed by our founder and they performed it with numerous instruments. Of all the schools we have been to that has been the most beautiful rendition of the song,” he said.
Balarka was full of praise for Miss Namibia, Lizelle Esterhuizen who made time in her busy schedule to be present.
“Miss Namibia only arrived back in Windhoek on Sunday night but she was very keen to join us and immediately accepted our invitation. She arrived at 07h30 to be with us at the Waldorf School while she also came along to Dagbreek school. We gave her one of the artworks of our founder as a mark of our appreciation,” he said.
“At Dagbreek School it was amazing to see the expressions on the children’s faces. We gave them an opportunity to hold the torch and to make a wish for peace and it was amazing to see how tightly they close their eyes and make a wish for peace. We talked to them about making choices in life and relayed our motto – ‘peace begins with me’, which underlines the notion that we have to start by changing ourselves.”
After their short stop in Windhoek the group left for Swakopmund where they were due to meet the mayor and three other schools as well.
Then it will be back to their normal working jobs before the next Peace Run, but despite their short stay, Balarka believes that Namibia’s uniqueness and charm has already rubbed off.
“Namibia is such a peaceful country and just to be here has been a very special experience for all of us,” he said.
Regarding the Peace Run, he said it would continue to grow in future.
“It will definitely grow. It was founded in 1987 and now it is in more than 180 countries around the world. Because it is non-commercial and non-religious it doesn’t discriminate and anyone can participate,” he said.
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