Torch run delivers message of peace
A worldwide torch relay promoting peace is making its way through Atlantic Canada.
The Sri Chimnoy torch peace run was founded in 1987 and is held in over 160 countries.
The Canadian leg began on Tuesday in Digby, Nova Scotia. Runners crossed over by ferry and made stops in Saint John on Wednesday, before heading to Fredericton on Thursday and will be in Moncton on Friday, before heading to PEI and back to Nova Scotia.
“It has a simple message that peace starts in the heart of each person, so we can all do something for peace,” Captain of the Canadian leg of the tour Brahmata Michael explained.
There are ten team members from seven different countries, all volunteers. Michael has been running with the team since 2005, but she said they have four members who have been at it since the beginning.
“It’s just simply giving people a platform to express peace, to think about what peace means to them. We have a torch that we run with, a flaming torch, and when we pass the torch to people, we ask them to just take a moment to be quiet, reflect on peace,” Michael said.
“We’ve actually had millions of people all over the world hold the torch and make that wish or prayer for peace. It’s more than a kind of a powerful symbol, you feel something tangible when you hold that torch.”
They’ll visit the peace garden in Mapleton Park in Moncton, City Hall and one school on Friday afternoon.
The team will also be making a stop in Shediac, where they will install a peace pole.
“The great thing about the run is that we have people of all abilities. We have excellent runners who can easily run all day, and then we have some runners who may have a little bit less capacity. We actually have an 80-year-old on our team right now, but it’s teamwork, so not one person has to run all the kilometres all day,” Michael explained.
With the run into its 39th year, Michael says some of the parents who support them were once children in schools hearing their messages of peace.
“We’ve had schools tell us, they had so much conflict, the kids weren’t getting along, and that the visit was such a morale boost, and that it really helped the children to kind of build more of a feeling of community,” Michael stated.
For daily reports on the peace run, you can visit their website.
