KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 29 : A man in prison might be without much hope; the world and his family could have given up on him, and his friends would probably be none; but one man says there is always hope and that despite the prison walls, the man could meet his peace and freedom.
The man who offers such a hope is Prem Rawat, internationally known as an ‘Ambassador of Peace’. His Peace Education Programme (PEP) is seeing success not only in some educational institutions but is also taking several prisons around the world by pleasant surprise.
This voluntary based programme takes inmates onto a unique route of rehabilitation involving self-discovery, and hopes of a fulfilled life, within or without the prison walls.
The PEP, founded by the The Prem Rawat Foundation (TPRF), which supports Rawat’s humanitarian efforts worldwide, is a media-based educational programme that helps participants explore the possibility of personal peace, and to discover personal resources — tools for living such as inner strength, choice, appreciation and hope.
The programme with volunteer teams, first introduced to a prison over five years ago, today has been adopted by 28 prisons in 10 countries including the United States, South Africa, India, Spain, Ireland and Australia.
One of the biggest difficulties for society is preventing inmates re-offending on release from prison, continuing a vicious cycle of criminality and hurt to the community.
The hope is that this programme will benefit wider society by changing this pattern, reducing crime, and the heavy financial and social costs associated with it.
Wardens from these prisons have been reporting not only positive changes in the inmates who have signed up for the programme, but also a drop in the number of prison returnees, among those who have gone through the programme. As a result the programme is now attracting academic interest from the University of Texas.
Prem Rawat, who is more widely known for his unique message of peace, which he has been presenting to audiences from all walks of life worldwide, through his ‘Words of Peace’ global live events, television and lecture series, offers some answers on why the PEP is becoming a winning formula in the prisons.
While the audiences for his ‘Words of Peace’ live addresses or broadcast events differ greatly — be it university students, ordinary participants of a local peace conference or dignitaries at an international forum — the common ground is the fact that they are all human beings with a fundamental need for peace, he says.
That need is not any different for a man or woman who has made mistakes and serving their time in jail.
Referring to the many different situations in which the peace events have made their impact, he said: “In Taiwan, there is a programme where the police officers watch the videos before they go out.”
In Sri Lanka, there was a camp for refugees during the war and these (PEP) were the only videos allowed to be played.
When Colombia started their repatriation programme for the rehabilitation of people who had been fighting, this is what they were watching before they were repatriated within society, Prem Rawat said.
“So, it is being used in many, many different ways. The significance of this message is that it tries to include that person and add those elements that have been taken away.
“I think the success of the PEP in prisons, right from the start, has been that we don’t look at the people there as prisoners. To me, they are just people, and the message is for them. It is telling them that they are alive, that they have this possibility, that they have strengths inside of them. They find that strength. And they evolve.”
The hope is that prisoners on the course will become productive members of society again on release.
Prem Rawat, was awarded the “The Brand Laureate International Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award” by the Asia Pacific Brands Foundation in Kuala Lumpur recently for his global humanitarian work and achievements. Specifically, the award was given for his work for peace over the last four decades.
Prem Rawat responding to the award said the fundamentals of humanity need to be factored in when finding resolutions to many of the afflictions within society.
“It is the humanity that we need to bring back. We have so much technology, so much technology. Who is working on evolving the humane portion of that humanity? We have to.”
At the event, which was graced by Regent of Perak Raja Dr Nazrin Shah, Prem Rawat once again reminded people of the importance of personal peace, saying that that would be the basis for peace in the world.
Prem Rawat was the fifth recipient of the Lifetime Achievement award. Among the other four who have been given the prestigious award are Nelson Mandela, Hilary Clinton and former Malaysian prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
Meanwhile, the PEP, which is compatible with existing prison rehabilitation programmes, consists of 10 hours of workshop material focused on a selection of core themes from Prem Rawat’s international addresses.
Themes include self-awareness, inner strength, understanding, choice, hope and clarity.
Each includes several video segments, time for reflection and accompanying reading material. There is a workbook for each participant. There are no tests as the programme is about individual self-discovery, something that is unique for each person.
At the conclusion of the programme, participants will be asked to share observations about what they learned, what they enjoyed, what challenged them and what could be improved about the programmes. A certificate of completion will be also given.
Among some of the interesting comments on the programme has come from the inmates themselves as well as prison wardens. While each has a different story to tell, the one common thing that comes through clearly from them is the excitement of having found hope again and with that the possibility of peace and contentment in their lives.
In Malaysia, the ‘Words of Peace’ television programme is currently aired on Astro’s Channel 502/Bernama TV every Sunday 10pm. The series which has won numerous awards including the Brazilian Association of Community Television Channels (ABCCOM) twice, and the first place honours in the 2007 Community Access Magic (CAM) Awards, by CTV, is also aired in several other cities including in the US, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia.– BERNAMA