​PEACE PARTNERS AND THE PREM RAWAT FOUNDATION (TPRF) ‘EDU’ PEACE EDUCATION PROGRAMME (PEP)

A report by Dolores Perez, Peace Partners pilot PEP EDU lead volunteer.

For a few years Peace Partners has been engaged in activities supporting the development of TPRF’s Peace Education Programme for Schools, Colleges and Universities (PEP EDU). This has included the operation and administration of pilot courses, together with financial support to enable institutions to provide materials for the courses. Several volunteers have participated in these efforts.

We began engaging with these pilot courses for students and educators in 2019, and we have been particularly busy in the last two years (2023-24) holding a total of 72 virtual sessions, including rehearsals, with 21 participants and 22 volunteers. Participants have included attendees from Ireland and abroad, as well as from the UK.

In June 2024 at a Brighton event with TPRF founder Prem Rawat, Peace Partners PEP EDU team contributed to a TPRF leaflet prepared for the event, through the inclusion of the personal expressions of three pilot EDU course participants - see below - and Peace Partners provided financial support for the TPRF Peace Education Program event table materials.  

We have felt privileged to have contributed to the very successful completion of the new 'EDU' PEP pilot courses, providing reports and feedback from the courses and the involvement and first-hand experience of volunteers and participants.

Most recently, Peace Partners has provided funding for materials for the very first TPRF PEP EDU University course in the UK. In the near future, we are hopeful that we can continue to provide the newly established PEP EDU courses with financial support, and will be able to recommend ways of promoting the course, including at UK conferences.

Some personal reflections from pilot PEP EDU participants:

“In my experience, the Peace Education Program offers a unique and transformative journey to self-discovery and inner peace. It reveals the true essence of the human heart and ignites a profound sense of aliveness. And what the world needs now, is for more people to truly come alive."

“Undertaking the program was a joyous and inspirational experience. The course content was wonderful and together with the periods of reflection, led me to new understandings. These discoveries brought me closer to my own humanity. I remember the whole experience with deepest fondness”

"The Peace Education Program has been a very unique and valuable offering for our students, one of a kind in fact. The course promotes extensive critical thinking and non-judgmental discussion, as well as a chance for students to engage with subjects they may not have the opportunity or time to discuss in the classroom, such as choice, understanding and clarity."