I was recently approached to serve as the interpreter for Lucia Guerreiro, a Brazilian artist visiting France to inaugurate a statue of the Little Prince, the famous character in the story by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

“I was always fascinated by the story of the Little Prince. I don’t even know how many times I've read it!” she confessed when we were first in touch. “And I had been trying for a long time to find a way of putting people in touch with Prem Rawat’s message through my artwork.”

In 2005, when she was first approached, Lucia saw a beautiful opportunity: to pay homage to two great humanists at the same time. “They also have in common that they are both pilots. As men of peace, they share a certain vision of the world seen from above,” she added mischievously.

Inmates in correctional facilities around the world are listening to Prem Rawat’s message of peace. Most attend weekly workshops where they watch videos brought to them by TPRF volunteers and have interactive discussions. Some have access to audiotapes or watch videos on a computer. Some only have a few reading materials they might borrow from the prison library.

However they receive the message, whatever language they speak or culture they are from, they have expressed profound appreciation for the way their life has changed as a result. Many send letters directly to Prem Rawat or addressed to him at TPRF. Below are just a few of the many expression letters that have been received:

Dear Prem Rawat, My life has changed with your message. It makes me feel more human than ever before. I used to be lonely, like an abandoned flower in the desert.
            – Ezeiza Women’s Prison, Argentina

Millions of inmates are crammed into overcrowded correctional facilities around the world with no educational programs addressing self-esteem or positive life skills. The rate of recidivism in some U.S. states is 75% or higher. In contrast, Captain Lorenzo Carter, of the Dominguez State Prison in San Antonio, Texas, recently reported that for inmates there who had attended the TPRF’s Inner Peace Workshop, less than 1% have returned to this prison.

For almost four years, TPRF volunteers Roberto and Chantal Piriz, Sherilyn Strickland, and Jim Clink have been presenting workshops for inmates based on Prem Rawat’s message of peace. In organizing the workshops, they have worked closely with Captain Carter, head of Correctional Officers and Volunteer Services at the Dominguez Prison. In a recent interview with Chantal and Roberto, the Captain spoke about the workshops: “The offenders who attend the program, their disciplinary record has gone down. They stay out of trouble. It has a positive impact on everyone who attends the class. It is one of my best classes because of the attendance rate and the turnout. Of the seven that I have, this is by far the best.”

Under the high patronage of President Giorgio Napolitano, of the Italian Republic and with the leadership of Mayor Nicolò Cristaldi, the town of Mazara del Vallo is sponsoring a writing contest on the theme of “Peace: A Human Heritage and a Human Right.”

One of the stated aims of the competition is to “honor our fellow citizen Prem Rawat for his dual commitment as a witness for peace and promoter of humanitarian initiatives.” In 2009, Mr. Rawat was made an honorary citizen of Mazara del Vallo in a special ceremony at the town hall.

All students in high school or university under the age of twenty-seven who live in the Municipality of Mazara del Vallo may submit an essay proposing a humanitarian initiative that would help to make their town into a real “Territory of Peace.”