See Louise Roenn Svane’s photos and observations from a recent visit to the Food for People facility in Otinibi, Ghana. The model food program provides clean water and millions of nutritious meals to disadvantaged children in Ghana, India, and Nepal.
Luis Calderon, an inmate at Everglades Correctional Institution in Miami, Florida shares how the Peace Education Program has had a profound impact on his perspective. “When we let inner peace be the natural, guiding force in our lives, then joy – for life, for love, for contentment, for clarity – sprouts from our being,” he says.
Irene Woodhead and a team of volunteers launched the Peace Education Program in Cornwall, UK with a screening of “Inside Peace,” a documentary about four inmates who attended the peace workshops in a Texas prison. One viewer said it was “absolute madness that there are inmates who have a life of pain and difficulty who are in more peace than billions of people on the outside world, living normal ‘free’ lives… It was just amazing to me— if these guys get in contact with that, then anyone can.”
Jodi Barker, a facilitator of the Peace Education Program, never expected that volunteering at Miami’s Everglades Correctional facility would be so rewarding, especially witnessing the inmates’ process of self-discovery. One said, “No matter how hard it gets, I can know who I am on the inside. It helps me even if no one else knows. Because I know.”
Annelies Bertsch (pictured on the right with Marielle Comeau) is a volunteer with the Peace Education Program (PEP) in Canada. In this blog she shares her perspective on presenting the program at the National Restorative Justice Symposium.
Incarcerated for over four decades, a participant in the Peace Education Program addressed other inmates about the possibility of experiencing inner peace, regardless of their tough circumstances.
In this new blog, UK Peace Education Program (PEP) volunteer Mary Dalgleish, writes about how “the PEP addresses the core of a human being, looking at the beauty and value of each person, not addressing what’s good or bad, right or wrong or trying to ‘fix’ people. It focuses on developing a positive approach to life; bypassing negative thought processes that can undermine an individual’s self-worth and behavior.”
Stephen de Lorimier is an architect and long-distance runner from Argenteuil, a town in Quebec near Montreal, Canada. In this blog he shares his perspective on running marathons to raise money for The Prem Rawat Foundation.
Karen Beem recently facilitated her first Peace Education Program workshops at Kentucky Circle Village, the senior community where she lives in Denver, Colorado. Participants expressed appreciation for how the program helped them gain a deeper awareness and understanding of themselves.
A cancer survivor, Sally Weaver, and a friend, Mary Jo Fortin, share their perspective on implementing the Peace Education Program (PEP) at the Cancer Support Center in Westlake Village, CA.
In this blog, Ivete Belfort and several other volunteers in São Paulo share their perspectives on what it’s like to be part of the Peace Education Program and how they see it helping participants in Brazil.
Steve Ahsmuhs shares perspective on facilitating the Peace Education Program for inmates at the Osceola County Corrections Department in the Orlando area of Florida.
Cintra Hardy, Jeff Camp, and John Hampton have facilitated 80 Peace Education Program (PEP) workshops for female inmates at Miami’s Metro Dade Detention Center. Cintra shares some of the women’s comments about looking for inner peace in prison.
Lucy Collins shares her perspective on being a volunteer facilitator for the Peace Education Program (PEP) in Miami, Florida, where she and her team have conducted about 400 PEP workshops for inmates at the Metro West Detention Center.
Susan Ramsey facilitates the Peace Education Program in Denver, Colorado, at a shelter for homeless women and transgender individuals. A participant said, “This class is preparing us for when we have our own housing. Because even when we get it, we’ll still have to deal with the problems of the world and find peace.”
Mary Dalgleish writes about her experience presenting the Peace Education Program at the recent International Corrections and Prison’s Association conference in London.