Brothers walk for peace

The two men seen walking together with heavy backpacks alongside area roads in recent days aren’t twins, but from a distance they look like they might be. The Hungarian brothers who live part-time in Serbia are of similar build, have look-alike packs, identical hats,  and, on the day they made their way through Marianna, identical clothes.
They also say they share a common goal; to walk the world for the cause of peace.
The Ivanics have Americanized their first names for the convenience of people they meet here, and to make conversations flow a bit easier. Having strangers struggle to pronounce their unfamiliar names can chill an opportunity to talk about their mission. 
Istvan is Steven here, and other brother, Ferenc, is Franky.
They’re about two years and 6,000 miles into a six-year, 25,000 mile journey around the world. Their goal is simple; to talk with people about “practical peace,” the kind they knew at home despite the wars that put Serbia in the news almost daily, years ago.
Their parents live in Serbia about 20 miles from Hungary and the brothers say they live off and on in both countries.
The factions warring in the streets of Serbia made news consistently for many years, and Americans became familiar with updates on the affairs of Serbs, Croats, Bosniaks and the people of Kosovo.
But in the midst of that upheaval, the village where the Ivanics brothers lived was always a peaceful place, with a mix of all those groups in their neighborhood.
Impatient with the politics of   a global peace mission, the brothers say they believe individual commitment to “practical peace” is the true path to universal harmony. It’s a big process that must be achieved in many small ways, they say.
They’ve been guest speakers at a smattering of events along the way, but in keeping with their philosophy, they usually reach out one-to-one as they travel.
They two say they’ve met some very kind and helpful people since they arrived in Miami about a month ago. They’ve been walking west ever since, and plan to keep going across the southern U.S until they enter Texas. Then they’ll cross the Mexican border. Due to international travel regulations, they have just 90 days to make their trek across the southern states, and more than 30 of those are gone. They quickened their normal pace from 15 miles a day to almost double that when they started in Miami.
They gave in to a rare indulgence this week, spending most of Monday swimming in Jackson Blue Spring and resting up for the next leg of their journey, a trip they call their WorldWalk Peace Tour.
The big-concept name doesn’t mean they have big-dollar sponsors, though. They sleep in tents most of the time, in churchyards, forests, or the fields of friendly farmers. They were down to $100 when they entered Marianna, and earlier on their journey in a different country — to their shame, they say — they resorted to all but begging in the streets.
Despite the poverty this trip has meant to these former gardeners, they walk on.
They continue despite the scorpions they’ve found crawling under their tents,  the snow they’ve encountered at other points in their journey, and the vast fields of mines that forced them to sleep just feet from a busy road on the western end of the Sahara Desert. They go on, despite the fact that a hot bath is a rare luxury on the road. 
They depend mostly on donations from people who believe in their cause, and the two update their Web site regularly. Their blog, and more information about the journey can be viewed at http://worldwalk-peacetour.info.