Billa Nanra writes about his experience with the Peace Education Program and what it was like to present his story at the American Probation and Parole Association (APPA) Training Institute.
I recently had the chance to present at the American Probation and Parole Association (APPA) Training Institute in New York for their 50th anniversary. APPA is a U.S.-based nonprofit organization that supports probation and parole professionals through training, networking events and more.
While I am not a probation and parole professional myself, I know the field quite well. I have lived through incarceration, addiction and probation, year after year. And over the past five years, I have been supporting people through their own journeys of rehabilitation and self discovery.
During the APPA conference at the end of August of this year, I shared my personal experience moving through cycles of addiction and incarceration to finding stability and self-trust, and how this transformation all began with the Peace Education Program by The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF). I was accompanied by my colleagues, Dr. Mitesh Desai, a physician in the U.K., and Julie Truschel, founder and CEO of the Supervision Around the World Project, who introduced and moderated the conversation.
Though I’ve presented at a number of these kinds of conferences, I always get nervous, but they are the good kind of nerves. Representing TPRF is a responsibility I take seriously. I find it an honor and a privilege to be in this kind of position.
It’s important for probation and parole professionals to hear about the kind of inner change that helped someone like me get out of the system–for good, and as a better person. Recidivism rates are high, and I hope my story shows that change is possible. If I can do it, I know anybody else can do it.
The Peace Education Program was fundamental in my change in behavior. The program is a series of strengths-based and video-based workshops centered on ten themes: Peace, Appreciation, Inner Strength, Self-Awareness, Clarity, Understanding, Dignity, Choice, Hope and Contentment. Each session helped me get closer to these parts of myself. I particularly enjoy the Self-Awareness session, and the concept of feeding the good wolf within us.
I went through the program in October 2018 at His Majesty’s Prison in Leeds, U.K., and realized I could either continue a life in and out of prison, or try to rebuild in a different direction. This is the realization I came to, whilst on the wing looking around me, thinking, “I don’t want this no more.”
People sometimes ask about my path from “dealer” to “leader,” but I tend to say that I’m not a leader but more of a healer. Honestly, I lead by example rather than telling anyone else what to do. Since getting out of prison in October 2020, I have continuously facilitated Peace Education Program sessions, trying to light as many candles as I can. I live and breathe the program. Currently, I facilitate seven Peace Education Program courses a week, with six groups of men and one group of women–all in halfway houses [known as “approved premises” in the U.K.]
The easy bit was coming off the drugs, and the hard bit was staying off them. Now, my “drug of choice” is happiness, joy and life. Many participants of the program come with trauma, mental health struggles and disorders including attention deficit disorder or substance use. The Peace Education Program holds up a mirror so participants can see themselves as human beings, which isn’t often the case in the incarceration system.
I connect with participants through my own lived experience. I tell them in full honesty about my experience, including sharing my documentary, Slaying the Dragon. Seeing them change, take responsibility and empower themselves is profound. I see so much of myself within them. As Prem Rawat says, what counts is today. Bit by bit, day by day, your past looks better and your future more hopeful.
I was excited to present at APPA this year, because I want to help expand the Peace Education Program into as many criminal justice settings as possible and in the wider community. I’d like to see more investment and engagement to support people’s wellbeing, as re-integration into the community is such a crucial part of people’s journey to reconnect and re-establish themselves in their communities.
Today, I am happier than I ever imagined. For me, every day is a school day, with clarity of the mind, gratitude of the heart and of course food in my belly.
I want to thank the volunteers I work with for their unwavering commitment, guidance and support. And finally to Mr. Prem Rawat: thank you for lighting my candle. My life has transformed in ways that I can’t even fathom.
Now life is my drug of choice.
