BEMIDJI — The Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run global torch relay brought its message of hope and peace to town on Friday as it made a stop at the Bemidji Boys and Girls Club.
The is a worldwide relay run that has visited over 150 nations and territories since its founding in 1987. The Peace Torch is passed from person to person during the relay and has been held by millions of people around the world.
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The team that visited Bemidji was running on the USA-Canada Route 2024. They ran 62 miles from International Falls to Bemidji on the morning of July 19 to share a message of peace with the children at the club.
The running team included: Devendra Cheatham (United States), Harita Davies (New Zealand), Hastakamala Diaz (Australia), Homagni Baptista (Australia), Mahasatya Janczak (Poland), Nayaja Perugini (Italy), Oliveria Lopez (Mexico), Pransukh Marks (United States), Preetidutta Thorpe (New Zealand) and Vasudha Deming (United States).
The Peace Run’s mission is to create a feeling of goodwill amongst every person and unite people to make the world a home for all people. Volunteers run with the Peace Torch, which is a tangible representation of the attainable peace that can be achieved if everyone works together.
‘Peace begins with me’
Team members started their lesson by having the kids at the Boys and Girls Club guess where they were from based on their introductions. They stood with a large map, giving the children a visual of how people from around the world can be united by a single mission: peace.
Runner Preetidutta Thorpe from New Zealand shared the importance of having peace with yourself so you can spread peace to others. The children repeated “Peace begins with me!” several times before going outside to run alongside the Peace Torch on the track and take turns passing it around.
“The Peace Run has been an amazing way to see countries,” Thorpe said. “As we carry the message of peace we get to see the goodness of many people in each country.”
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The team had activities, songs and a self-reflection to engage the children in identifying what actions promote peace and which ones cause division.
“Peace is such a universally loved message,” Thorpe said. “When everyone hears the word ‘peace’ they just light up.”
Being part of the Peace Run also gives runners the opportunity to meet people from across the globe.
“It’s an amazing way of meeting people around the world,” Thorpe said. “We get to see so many people doing selfless, good things for their community and it’s really inspiring. It gives you so much hope for the world.”
Roughly 60 different runners from 20 countries will join for the duration of the four-month-long USA-Canada Peace Run route.
The world is one family
USA Peace Run Co-Director Harita Davies ran her first Peace Run in her home country of New Zealand in 1997.
Even after decades of running, she shared how each day is a new and rewarding experience.
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“This is something that doesn’t get old because every day you’re meeting new people,” Davies explained. “And every day you’re filling people’s hearts and you’re meeting so many good people doing good things. Every moment you are reminded of the goodness of humanity.”
Davies noted that she feels there has been unnecessary division separating people from one another. After traveling the world for Peace Run tours, she knows firsthand that people are more similar than different.
“The general media doesn’t represent humanity, it’s a tiny portion that is blown into something huge to cause division and separation,” she added. “But really, we meet so many people doing good things and everybody’s on the same page. We all want peace. We all want to be satisfied and be happy. We all want our children to grow up in a safe place.”
The Peace Run serves as a reminder that there are millions of people who want peace and are making strides in their community to make the world a better place.
“It is important for us to feel like we can make progress and that we can make a difference ourselves,” Davies shared. “We feel one of our main roles is to encourage people to take a moment to feel that yearning for peace that we all have inside our hearts and remember that we can make a difference. We do make a difference, but we need to start with ourselves. And we can’t share the message of peace if we don’t have peace inside ourselves.”
She concluded with a strong yet simple thought.
“Our founder, Sri Chinmoy, created the run with the vision that peace starts in the heart of each one of us,” she left off. “The world is one family.”
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To view the map of the USA-Canada route and see updates from the running team,
The Trust Project
