“Creating Social Empowerment through Inner Peace”
6-10 March 2015, Fiji
“Be the change you want to see in the world ~ Mahatma Gandhi’
The Peace Revolution Bula Pacific Youth Fellowship entitled, “Peace In + Peace Out = Sustainable World Peace” will bring together 50 young people from all over Pacific region who are interested in learning and exploring self-development as a primary means to create real world change. This retreat aims to promote a culture of peace, peace education, conflict prevention and youth empowerment through the primary means of meditation and self-development.
We live in a world which is often chaotic, stressful and where many people live their lives in situations which are out of their control. By developing personal skills, people can learn to be less reactive to emotions, stress and challenging external environments and instead become proactive towards real and meaningful world change.
The recent events and the rising of social and environmental occurrence across Pacific Islands region have highlighted the emergence of a new generation of leaders that yearn for change. The purpose of this fellowship is to engage young open-minded leaders and support their growth as change-makers to effectively contribute to the region’s sustainable and inclusive development. The retreat will include interactive activities, meditation sessions, lectures and discussions providing the participants with new skills for non-violent resistance and peace education. They will wield the power of their position responsibly, with care for others in their heart and without fostering any kind of suffering as a result of embodying the qualities of meditation.
This fellowship will be the first of its kind in the Pacific Islands region to bridge the gap between inner peace and social empowerment, which will lead to transformational and peaceful activism.
- Bring young leaders and activists from the Pacific Islands region together, provide a forum for networking and exchange of experiences by fostering mutual understanding, dialogue and cooperation.
- To promote tools of non-violent communication and peace building that can be applied to all cultures, religions and professions.
- To develop and strengthen an active network of young peace builders that aims to boost creativity and to support participants personal and professional development.
- Provide the participants with the tools to inner peace and leadership skills through mindfulness, self-discipline and compassion that helps strengthen their activism and place them in meaningful work.
- To explore meditation as a practice which can develop tools to deal with challenges within peace-building and youth work.
- To explore the idea that self-development is a core foundation of world change and helping others.
- Full or partial sponsoring of airfare
- Free accommodation
- Free catering
- Free local transportation
- Free meditation retreat fee.
- Candidates must be nationals and residents of these countries: American Samoa, Australia, Banaba, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Greenland (Maluku, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Midway Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua and West Papua), Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tahiti, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, United States Minor Outlying Islands, Vanuatu, Wake Island, Wallis and Futuna, Zenadh Kes (Torres Strait Islands.
- Candidates should be 20-32 years old at the time of submitting the application in order to receive the airfare support.
- Candidates must have completed at least 21 days of the online self-development program. Note that in order to submit the application form, candidates do not need to have completed the online self-development program.
- Candidates have good proficiency in written and spoken English language.
- Candidates should be optimistic, open-minded, show leadership potential, and have a genuine interest in peace and dialogue.
- Preference would be given to young leaders who are actively working in democracy, sustainable development, human rights and peace-building within the spheres of society, culture and media.
Application Deadline - December 10th, 2014 (last date to apply online)
Eligibility Deadline - December 31st, 2014 (last date for completing eligibility criteria to receive interview call)
I am over 32, can I still apply for the fellowship?
Everyone is welcome to join the fellowship. We are looking for young peace activists interested in self-development, who want to learn how to develop their own inner peace in order to engage more effectively in their peace work. However to be eligible for the partial sponsoring of airfare, candidates must be between 20-32 years old.
I do not live in above mentioned countries, but still part of Pacific region, can I still apply?
You can still apply, however we may not support your travel costs if you are flying from outside of above mentioned countries. Preference will be given to these countries however we are open to consider your application if you are either living or your work is in Pacific region. Please consider looking out our international fellowships which take place in Thailand and other regional fellowship in various part of world. There will also be many international events coming soon.
How do you select the participants?
The most important aspect of applying is to complete at least 21 days of the online self-development programme. We will try our best to select a varied group from as many countries as possible.