From October 21–23, representatives of The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF) joined international correctional officials, social service professionals and community leaders in Nairobi for Kenya’s Corrections Service Week. During the event’s gala dinner, TPRF was honored with a Certificate of Recognition for its outstanding work advancing personal peace through the Peace Education Program.
The Corrections Service Week is an annual event hosted by the State Department for Correctional Services in Kenya’s Ministry of Interior and National Administration. This year, the event invited 800 leaders and professionals across the criminal justice sector to convene and share innovative practices to advance rehabilitation and reintegration of former clients into society. TPRF is a partner and sponsor of the event, which this year was themed, “Efficient Service Delivery for the Common Good.”
At the event, Morena Mofokeng and Esther Nhlapo presented the Peace Education Program as a widely practical and participant-centered tool for rehabilitation and re-integration. The Peace Education Program, developed by TPRF, is a non-religious and non-political program that helps individuals discover their inner resources for strength, resilience and wellbeing, and has already reached 625,000 people in over 85 countries worldwide and across 40 languages.The program has proven to be especially effective in corrections settings, with corrections clients and staff in the criminal justice system benefitting from the 10-part workshop series.
Over three days, Kenya’s Corrections Service Week brought together people from mental health organizations, faith-based agencies, correctional facilities, and beyond. TPRF presented on the second day of the conference and received substantial interest for follow-up from various agencies. In line with the Peace Education Program’s focus on human agency, inner wellbeing and empowerment, many of the other presentations throughout the event pushed for a transition from punitive corrections models toward human-centered correctional and rehabilitative methods.
During TPRF’s presentation, Morena Excellent Mofokeng shared with the audience, “The objective of this program is that the participants will understand and explore personal peace, and become more aware of these inner resources that are not taught, really, but discovered within each individual.”
The week’s activities and presentations highlighted participating organizations’ shared commitment to holistic rehabilitation, which will require integrated attention to mental, social, physical, financial, spiritual and personal dimensions of wellbeing. The Peace Education Program complements this multidimensional approach by offering its participants a practical tool for reflection and personal growth. This tool can support advancing ongoing efforts, in both Kenya and beyond, to build a more humane and effective rehabilitation agenda.
