Argentina, 2 June
On June 2 our Harmony Team visited ´Del Carril´, a small town located in the very heart of the Pampas. It was a cloudy and rainy day, but little by little a few sun rays appeared and joy multiplied.
Our friends Mariana, Hernan, Alicia and Natalia organized the World Harmony Run along with a community project called “Together for transforming the world” at ´Juan B. Alberdi Primary School N°8´ where over 130 children welcomed the Torch with a big celebration and the Harmony Song.
At about 9:30 in the morning the local volunteer firefighters - who were celebrating their ‘Firefighter National Day’- helped us to kindle the Torch and then some pilgrim ‘gauchos’ arrived and also escorted us to the school.
We are extremely grateful to Mirta Vinas, our kind headmaster, teachers, presenter and local representatives for their support and heartful participation.
A rainy day didn’t prevent everybody from running and walking along the streets and seeing neighbours coming out of their houses to participate in the event. We stopped at the Kindergarden n° 902, at the Municipal hospital and ‘Maria Purisima Church’ (The Purest Mary Church) were Father Alvaro kindled the main candle with the ‘solidarity’ torch and offered his blessings for a better world.
For about three hours, the local radio station FM 101.1 and TV stations followed the Harmony Run with an enthusiastic coverage. They praised Sri Chinmoy’s significant initiatives through sport activities for the betterment of the world and told us they will always support the Harmony Run in the future.
Children are the best harmony builders: they sang the World Harmony Run Song and other songs in Spanish, Italian and English. They also performed two interesting plays about the acceptance of diversity and referred to the deep meaning of harmony with words like “purity, solidarity, good manners and peaceful attitude towards others.”
Traditional dances from Argentina (Carnavalito and Pericon), Chile (Cueca), Italy (Tarantella) and Austria (Valse) were performed after the main ceremony was opened by the National Anthem and officials’ messages. Children displayed flags from all over the world in a colourful round that showed us their universal feeling of harmony.
The local ‘Friends’ Association of Dr Victor Freiberg Municipal Library’ thanked us and read out the following message:
“We believe that if we bet on Life beyond failure, on Love beyond desire, on Truth beyond interests, everything will be achieved with harmony and peace on the way to freedom.”
More local schools would like to share this experience of harmony soon. It will be a nice opportunity and challenge to have a long distance Harmony Run in the Pampas next time!