Our last official visit of the trip was to the Hawaii State Capitol Building.
While waiting to enter the Governors Official Meeting room we met some of the special guests. Dr Amefil Agbayani is pictured on the left. She will be receiving the Torch-Bearer Award, and invited some of her co-workers and friends to the event.
Inside the room Salil introduced the Peace Run. The Governor is seated on the far left.
The Great Seal of the State if Hawaii is an impressive backdrop. Hawaii was the 50th State to join the Union, in 1959.
We first offered the Torch-Bearer Award to Dr Amefil Agbayani, a dearly beloved civil rights champion in Hawaii who has dedicated her life to improving the lives of others, and after more than six decades of service she shows no sign of slowing down!
Robin Campaniano gave a beautiful introduction to her lifes work and presented her with the award. They have been good friends and compatriots for many years.
Hawaii civil rights pioneer Dr. Amefil “Amy” Agbayani is an Emeritus Assistant Vice Chancellor for Student Diversity at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa.
Amy was born in the Philippines. Named after the combination of the words American and Filipino -- Manang Amy as many call her -- she has dedicated her life to fighting for social justice and equal access to higher education for Filipinos and other underrepresented groups.
At UH, Amy advocated, developed and administered student equity and diversity programs for Native Hawaiians, Filipinos, African Americans, Pacific Islanders, students with disabilities, women, LGBTQ students, senior citizens, immigrants and other underserved groups.
Amy shared with us that at this time her primary focus is on immigration rights. We were honored to present her with our Torch-Bearer Award.
Robin also introduced our next Torch-Bearer recipient, Governor Josh Green.
Governor Josh Green impressed us all greatly with his sincerity, humility, goodness and dedication to the people of Hawaii and beyond! He prioritized meeting us despite the recent hurricane as he felt that working for peace is something that needs to be recognized and supported.
Governor Josh Green was first a physician. For the past 20 years, Governor Green cared for Big Island families as a doctor. He served in the State House of Representatives and the State Senate from 2004 to 2018. As chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, he passed “Luke’s Law,” which provides care for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, as well as tobacco and e-cigarette regulations, which increased the legal age for purchasing tobacco and e-cigarettes to 21. Passionate about housing solutions, Governor Green helped create “Kauhale” communities to get unsheltered veterans, kūpuna, and others into safe housing options. These efforts are ongoing and will continue to be one of his top priorities as Governor.
The Governor immediately donned the Peace Run Cap we gave him! He spoke in a deeply heart-felt way of how his role as Governor aligns with the Peace Run. He told us that one of the most memorable and significant moments in his life was when he had the opportunity to ask Desmond Tutu for leadership advice, and the answer was "Lead by example".
The Governor was impressed by our route map, and proceeded to show on the map all the different cities where significant events in his life have taken place. We never saw anyone do this before, and it gave us all a lot of joy!
Salil and our two Torch-Bearer Awardees are all smiles.
Governor Josh Green, Dr Amefil Agbayani and staff members.
Our great and good Awardees with the whole team!
Outside the Governors OFfice, inside the Capitol Building.
We went to see the replica of the original Liberty Bell in Philadelphia which we visited on the second day of our journey back in April. We are so very grateful for the countless deeply significant opportunities we have had ho honor and celebrate the 250th Anniversary of America since this time. We are also so grateful to be able to share with fellow Americans the reality of how much goodness, kindness, dedication and optimism we experienced in every part of America.
Dr Amefil Agbayani kindly offered Mudhavati a beautiful turmeric flower.
We visited the Waianae Boys and Girls Club especially to receive two giant cakes that the Director and our new good friend, Kristle, baked for us! Kristle really went above and beyond, taking care and treating us in so many ways. Needless to say, the team devoured the cake. Thank you Kristle!
This club staff member missed us yeasterday, so was so thrilled to still have a chance to run with the torch!
Thank you Waianae Boys and Girls Club! We treasure our time together!
We headed north from Waianae and discovered a cave.
Some of us went inside to experience the ancient spiritual tradition of chanting mantras deep inside the cave. We lasted about two minutes.
Hawaii-style lunchtime.
Some of us hiked up the local Pink Pillbox Trail, climbing a short steep trail to the top of a hill overlooking the West side of O'ahu.
In Hawaii Pillboxes are former military lookouts. Many have been painted or graffitied. This one has some beautiful artwork and inspiring quotes inside!
The view was spectacular!
We did some running in the beautiful Ho'omaluhia Botanical Gardens in Kaneohe.
We were very happy to meet Emily and Zack who are also visiting Hawaii.
Making new friends is such a special part of the Peace Run.
Nivedak kindly treated the team to Hawaiian style ice cream before departing for the airport!
We are grateful to Nivedak for joining our team. He has been Peace Running since the beginning in 1987!
IT was also time to say goodbye to our dear local Co-ordinator, Mudhavati. We are deeply grateful to her for all the work she did to organize our events in Oahu, her home town from her childhood, and for especially coming to join the team. Her hearts love for the people of Hawaii and the opportunity to share the Peace Run with them touched us all deeply.
Thank you Mudhavati!!!
We headed to Magic Island for a swim, sunset meditation and for our last team dinner- pizza!
It was a beautiful sunset.
Hawaii, Hawaii, Hawaii! O eastern sun, O western sky! Quality-heart, quantity-mind: Truth-seekers, life-lovers, In you find.
-Sri Chinmoy
This young girl was so intrigued by the team and the torch. Every person who holds the torch represents humanity, but the children always give us special joy.
A big THANK YOU and Certificates of Appreciation to our wonderful team who came from all over the world to Hawaii, our 50th State! We had over 70 team members from over 30 countries on our team over the last nearly 5 months. Each person added something unique and special to the team, and we are deeply grateful to you all!
Serendipidously, as we were leaving we were blessed by fireworks- a perfect celebratory end to our 50-State American Peace Run!
If you want to see Your heart’s aspiration-beauty, Then you must first set off Your inspiration-fireworks. -Sri Chinmoy
Aloha Shaka from the womens team!
