We started today with a delicious breakfast in a trendy café in Amsterdam. Generous friends of Roos paid the bill; we do not know who you are, but we are very grateful for your kind offer.

At 9 a.m. we were expected at elementary school De Roos, a multicultural school with students from over 35 countries. The Netherlands is a very multicultural society; Amsterdam alone houses over 170 different nationalities.

The children from De Roos were very nice and enthusiastic. They loved running with us along the small street next to the school. They also sang a beautiful and haunting song for us, accompanied by a teacher on the guitar.

two friends...

A small group of children and the gymnastics teacher ran with us to the second school, which was close by. De Meidoorn also boasted a very diverse population: children from over 40 different countries awaited us on the schoolyard.

Both schools had prepared a special ‘gift of friendship’ for one another, which the children handed over under an appreciative applause. The gifts – wonderful drawings from De Roos and a beautiful framed collage from De Meidoorn – underlined the friendship and goodwill between the two schools.

autograph session...

The meeting at De Meidoorn was as joyful as could be. We ran to and fro across the schoolyard four times and still the children begged for more; unfortunately our schedule did not allow us to stay for much longer. After refreshing cups of coffee and two boxes full of delicious bread rolls with Dutch and French cheese offered by the school principal Jolande Buitenhuis, we were on our way again. Thank you De Roos and De Meidoorn for a wonderful start to the day.

It was a beautiful day as we ran through the flat and scenic Dutch polders – land which was reclaimed from the sea some forty years ago. The Dutch are famous for their reclaiming techniques: huge plots of sea are dammed in, drained of water and turned into fertile land. It’s one of the reasons why the country has such a flat landscape. Perhaps to compensate for the lack of mountains (or even hills), the Dutch are the tallest people in the world, with men averaging a height of 183 centimetres (6 feet) and women measuring 176 centimetres (5 foot 8 inches) on average.

A little later than scheduled, what with outdated maps and changing cities, we arrived in the town of Almere where we were greeted by city representative Arno Visser who offered us best wishes and ran with us around the main square. We had previously met with Mr. Visser three years ago at the Dutch Parliament, where he was an MP at the time. It was very nice to see him again here in a different setting. Mr. Visser gave a heartfelt and inspiring speech, congratulating the runners with having great ideals and the courage to work for them. “Both small and big ideals are important,” he remarked appropriately.

From the city hall, a group of children from primary school De Bongerd had gathered to run with us towards their school. They all took turns in holding the torch as we ran back. De Bongerd is a school for children who are psychologically challenged or have a learning disorder. We were amazed by their keen understanding of what the World Harmony Run was about and inspired by their cheer and enthusiasm as they passed the torch and ran with it around the school field. Local television was present as well and made an item for its news programme. Thank you children of De Bongerd and all the best to you!

From Almere we ran on through the green and pastoral countryside towards Lelystad, the biggest town around and capital of the province of Flevoland. In Lelystad we visited a very special school: The College of Invincibility. This school, consisting both of primary and secondary levels, was founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a spiritual teacher who lived in The Netherlands until his passing earlier this year. Students follow a regular educational path but also learn meditation as part of their curriculum.

We enjoyed and appreciated the peaceful and very harmonious atmosphere of the school and gladly accepted their invitation for a short group meditation together. What a nice way to express the message of harmony!

From Lelystad we ran the remaining 20K to Dronten, where we were received at agricultural school De Warmonderhof, a college which educates students in ecological and organic farming. The students had cooked meals for us in all their separate dorms, so the team split up and each runner ate with a group of students. De Warmonderhof was so kind as to sponsor us a place to sleep for the night as well.

After the meal we all gathered and had a nice talk about the Run. A short run through the farm ended the day. Thank you very much for all the hospitality!

– Abhinabha

Distance: 80 km

Team Members:
Dipavajan Renner (Austria), David Mouton (France), Namitabha Arsic (Serbia), Darya Soboleva (Russia), Anita Borics (Hungary), Ksenia Soboleva (Russia), Abhinabha Tangerman (Netherlands), James Doran (New Zealand), Valco van Vloten (Netherlands), Roos de Waart (Netherlands)

Harmonemail:
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Gallery: See more images!