Children to lead 'walk for values' in Queen St

The Sathya Sai preschool in Otara is free. Photo / Glenn Jeffrey

Otara preschoolers will get a taste of downtown Auckland tomorrow when they lead New Zealand's first "walk for values" up Queen St.

The mostly Pacific Island and Maori children attend New Zealand's only preschool run by the Institute of Sathya Sai Education founded by an 82-year-old Indian guru, Sathya Sai Baba.

Sai Baba followers in Canada held the world's first "walk for values" in 2003 in response to gang violence.

Since then walks have become annual events in Canada, the US and Australia, and the movement's 1500 followers in this country hope the Queen St walk will help to spread their message of love and peace.

"If you look around you from broken families to family violence to the statistics that show our alcohol and drug abuse, it's very apparent that our society does need to go back to the values that we essentially are," said spokesman Manoj Nathoo.

"In promoting the walk, we have asked people who have shown interest to undertake to practise a certain value. If you pick love, we hope that from the time you register to the time you walk you will make a deliberate effort to be more loving and caring."

www.walkforvalues.co.nz