Peace Runs in Indonesia, Malaysia and Nepal

Many of our members are very active in organising (and running in) the Sri Chinmoy Oneness-Home Peace Run, which is a torch relay that Sri Chinmoy founded in 1987 and has since visited over 160 countries. Millions of people have held our peace torch, and their shared wish for a better world connects us all.

In 2019, the Peace Run began a momentous journey across the Southern Hemisphere - visiting all 44 countries that have their capital city below the Equator. The run began and ended Bali, Indonesia. To conclude the run, November 11 to 17, 2019, a large team - 27 Peace Runners for 13 countriues -  visited different communities of Bali, as well as school visits and ceremonies to share the message of peace. Our members from Bali organised each day of the program, so that the international members were able to immerse ourselves deeply in the beauty and purity of Bali.

Mediators Beyond Borders Conference The week before the closing ceremony, the Peace Run was invited to be part of the special international conference called Mediators Beyond Borders, at the invitation of Rotary District Governor and Peace Run supporter Princess Febri Dipokusumo.

The Peace Run was also very fortunate to meet again Nobel Peace Laureate and one of Timor-Leste’s foremost leaders Dr. Jose Ramos-Horta, who was the keynote speaker.

Grand Finale A 6-hour ceremony featuring a parade made made up of numerous groups, from kindergarten to high school, playing traditional and Western instruments, clad in various types of Balinese costumes, along with the Peace Run team.

Once at the stage by the beach, the Runners were treated with several incredible musical and cultural performances by students of different age groups, and much more! A number of children’s peace drawings adorned the display boards set up on the sand for the occasion.

The final item in the programme was a sunset beach meditation for peace, with a little candle held by each of us around the Peace Torch in the middle—a truly memorable moment.

The following day the Peace Run met at the statue of Sri Chinmoy at the Agung Rai Museum of Art. The museum's founder Agung Rai joined us for the meditation and told us how this statue of Sri Chinmoy is raising the whole consciousness of the museum, and how grateful he is.

Malaysia February 2020 With the help of Princess Febri once again, over a hundred peace runners visited a school in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, visited an school run by the Indonesian Consulate for their immigrant families’ children in the region. This event was jointly organized by both Malaysian and Indonesian Rotary Clubs, as well as Consul General of Indonesia. The beautiful morning began by singing national anthems of both Malaysia and Indonesia, followed by the Peace Run theme song.

Surabaya and Madura Island in East Java, Indonesia. Surabaya Rotary Club, with the leadership of Princess Febri, organized Peace Runs from February 6 to 8, in two regions of Madura Island: Pamekasan and Bangkalan, as well as in Surabaya, the 2nd largest city of the country. Along with Princess was Prince Dipo, who was ever so faithfully supportive of the whole series of events. The team had 17 members from 11 countries.

Our special guest during these Peace Runs was Dr. Davidson Hepburn, Former Permanent Representative of the Bahamas to the UN, and President of the 35th General Conference of UNESCO.

It was our honour and complete pleasure to have this most accomplished leader-diplomat and dear brother-friend in the team. Not only was he a powerful speaker at important ceremonies, but was also an extremely friendly team member with superb sense of humour when doing school ceremonies.

Nepal February 2020 We had a big team: 27 members from 13 countries once again!

We are also extremely grateful to Tej Bahadur Gurung, whom we affectionately call Tej Sir, for taking us in so wholeheartedly to be part of all the activities in Pokhara. Being a former athlete himself, and now as Vice President of Nepal Olympic Committee, he truly cherishes the athletic aspect of Sri Chinmoys’s spiritual philosophy.

The Peace Run was featured prominently at the Pokhara Marathon, and the Marathon officials and participants were invited to the Nepali premiere of 3100: Run and Become, which turned out to be the perfect ending of the Nepal Peace Run.