Helen Hussey has provided an account of her experience at the 2024 International Peace Education Program Conference in Kuala Lumpur.
My Experience at the 2024 International Peace Education Program Conference in Kuala Lumpur
Helen Hussey
In July 2024 I was invited to the International Peace Education Program Conference in Kuala Lumpur.
There were facilitators of the program from 58 countries. I have attached some photos.
The first is of Billa. He is now going back into the prison and helping facilitate the program, his own restorative journey. A few months ago Prem visited Leeds Prison. He and Prison officials spoke in a packed hall with the men and staff. Billa read out expressions and questions from the inmates, which Prem answered. Over three hundred men have now been through the Peace Education Program there. It is held in every wing of the prison.
The next photo is of Ernest Leketti and his friend, whose name I can’t remember. They facilitate PEP in Soweto.
The third photo is of two facilitators from Benin in West Africa.
I had dinner with a lady from Finland and caught up with friends from Canada, Brazil, UK and USA. It was a humbling and inspiring experience. To listen to Prem and meet up with so many people was wonderful. I am very grateful for the opportunity.
One of the men at Bethlehem House, whom had done the Peace Education Program last year, and proudly received his certificate for completing the course, returned on Tuesday. He has been in prison for six months, but the judge has now decided there was no case to answer for. D was very pleased to see me. I showed him Slaying the Dragon and the photo of Billa and I at the conference.
I had told Billa about the men at Bethlehem House, he said he would be happy to speak with them on Zoom. D said he would really like to speak with him, as he is coming to terms with what happened and his time in prison.
Prem answering a question put to him by a student, said., that yes, there is injustice and cruelty in the world, but a way to overcome it is by making peace much, much bigger.