May 19, 2006 – Waving bright blue flags and a burning torch, about 25 community members and students gathered outside the Legislature on St. Thomas on Friday to begin their 6-mile journey to the Cyril E. King Airport. Their jog was a part of the one-month World Harmony Run, a global relay which seeks to promote peace and understanding around world.
According to Salil Wilson, a coordinator for this year's event, the World Harmony team will be kicking off this year's Caribbean run on St. Thomas and will be traveling across the region to places like Trinidad, Tobago, St. Kitts, Barbados and Antigua. The event will end on June 13 in Grenada.
And, while the run continues throughout the Caribbean, other relays will be run concurrently throughout the world. "In Australia, I think the team will be running about 11,000 miles," Wilson said. "That will take about four months. And in Europe, the team will be covering about 16,000 miles, which will take them through 48 different countries."
An 11,000-mile run through all 50 states is also currently ongoing on the mainland.
Wilson said the organization has been holding runs since 1987 as a way to "promote international friendship and understanding." He said the races allow people to express their hopes and dreams for a brighter future.
"World harmony starts in the heart of each person," he said, explaining that as a symbol of harmony, runners carry a flaming torch, passing it from hand to hand between members of the various communities.
As part of their visit to the islands, World Harmony Team members also organize trips to various schools.
Vajali Auctil, a World Harmony Run organizer, said, "On St. Thomas, we visited the Leonard Dober Elementary School, the Evelyn Marcelli Elementary School and the Ulla F. Muller Elementary School, and the students there talked to us about what world harmony means to them, sang us parts of the World Harmony Run song, and even organized their own runs around parts of their schools. It was very exciting."
Wilson said that some students also read poetry on the theme of world harmony. Many even came out to participate in the run – along with students from various other schools on the island.
"The children really love it," Auctil said, explaining that many community members often turn out in large numbers to run the relay every year. "And we love it too."
Auctil said that her hope is that the "world becomes one family, which is what it is really meant to be."
This is the second consecutive year that the event has been held on St. Thomas. "Last year, we ended our run here, and this year we're starting here," said Ketan Tamm, the Caribbean coordinator. "And it's really grown since then. This year it's a four-week trip – maybe it will be longer next year."
In addition to the Caribbean, Europe, the U.S. and Australia, runs are currently ongoing in Turkey, Macedonia and Germany, among other places.
The run on the U.S. mainland kicked off in New York last month.
For more information on the event and the organization visit www.worldharmonyrun.org.
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