This morning we received a very warm welcome from Penrith South Public School and the Mayor of Penrith City Council, John Thain. These extraordinary children had gone to great effort to prepare for our visit. They wore orange outfits as a symbol of harmony, some even dying their hair orange for the day!

In his introductory speech, the Mayor reminded us of how lucky we are to live in Australia - a country of remarkable cultural diversity and tolerance.

Following an enthusiastic rendition of the World Harmony Run Song, the entire assembly formed a long line along the perimeter of the school, each child passing the torch to the next child in a continuous line, farewelling the team and enacting harmony in their own school.

We then ran to Parramatta. Once there, they were treated to a ceremony reminiscent of the global opening ceremony, in which runners from around the world converge on New York.

The children of Parramatta West Public School represent almost as many nations as we visit around the world. There are over fifty languages spoken at this school, and 85 percent of students are from non-English-speaking backgrounds. So many beautiful children from such a wide range of cultures, all together under one roof. They conducted the assembly themselves, under the tutelage of their teacher and co-ordinator Pia.

The Acting Lord Mayor of Parramatta, Maureen Walsh, greeted the runners and spoke about harmony as an ideal of acceptance and co-operation between all people, something that this school embodies daily, as evidenced by the sea of smiling faces at the assembly.

With over 500 children there was little time to pass the torch or run far but after school the runners were more than happy to allow the excited children to hold the torch as they filed out of the grounds.

---

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