October 3rd, Peace March in Christchurch, South Island (New Zealand)

The torch carried from Hiroshima by Bob Harvey of Mayors for Peace accompanied the march which lasted 3 hours. It started at a sacred Maori pa site where Maori elders and church leaders said prayers for the international and local marchers.  It then followed some of the Christchurch Peace City  walk past a  Fire Fighters' Memorial  made from steel taken from the ashes of the World Trade Centre to the ancient site of the Waitaha pa of Puari. There were speeches here by a Waitaha grandmother who spoke of her peoples’  peace tradition of hundreds of years.  The March passed the place where the Lantern Ceremony has been held every year since 1975 to mark Hiroshima and Nagasaki Days on 6 and 9 August during Peace Week. The 100 or so walkers then viewed  stopped to see an exhibition of Gandhi photos and to listen to songs and speeches and ended in the Botanical Gardens, where all the participants gathered in a circle holding hands while the “World Peace Bell” was rung  and heard songs by well known Maori singer Ariana Tikao. Speeches were given by the former Mayor Garry Moore who spoke about the Peace City and Mayors for Peace, and Kate Dewes spoke about the UN Secretary General’s ‘We Must Disarm’ campaign.