Australia June 9: Sydney-Wollongong
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This morning we attended a special assembly of children and their parents at Lewisham Public School in Sydney's inner west. The Mayor of Marrickville, Mr Sam Byrne, attended and spoke impressively about the cultural diversity of Marrickville, and how it made the area a vibrant and exciting one to live in, giving real stength to the community. He encouraged the students to strive to understand and appreciate this as they progress through their school years.
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A group of very young children then sang a beautiful rendition of "Put a little love in your heart" while holding up small, red love-heart shapes.
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Following an award ceremony, and rendition of "Happy Birthday" for all those who had had a birthday in the previous week, the children formed lines and joyfully took turns holding the World Harmony Run Torch.
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In the afternoon we attended a ceremony at Kemblawarra School in Wollongong. The children were all enthusiasm as they assembled in a hall decorated with a huge "Harmony" banner. They welcomed us with a very catchy song about being Kemblawarra kids and were obviously from many different cultural backgrounds. They sang the final verse of their welcoming song in Macedonian.
Remarkably, these children have put out six CDs, and many of them have composed their own songs. Their CDs can be ordered at Kemblawarra's Website .
The Lord Mayor of Wollongong, Alex Darling, attended the ceremony and offered many kind words of support to the World Harmony Run.
Harmonemail:
You can send a message to the runners or read the messages.