Food for people, food for thought: The Prem Rawat Foundation, WAFA’s role model
WAFA’s role models of sustainability are its patrons and the continuous work they do for making this world a better place. Since 2006, The Prem Rawat Foundation serves 100,000 hot meals to children and ailing adults in India, Nepal and Ghana, through its Food for People Program (FPP).
WAFA patron Prem Rawat travels the world speaking to people about peace. He often uses food and water allegories to talk about how global change can come along. In his recent talk in Palermo, he reminded everyone how achieving peace starts with finding the peace within: “Change comes from within. Remember the good and bad wolves fighting inside you. Which one will win? The one you feed!”… “The rain does not come down all at once, but drop by drop. You are the drop.”
Food and peace
Feeding the mind and feeding the body go hand in hand. You cannot talk about peace on an empty stomach. The idea of the Food for People Program emerged in 2003, when Prem Rawat spoke in Jharkhand, one of the poorest regions of his native country, India. Of the 32,000 villages, only a quarter have practicable roads, and even less have electricity. The mortality rate of children under 5 was twice as high as in the rest of India, and adults could often not work to support their families due to poverty and chronic hunger.
The idea of the FFP program was built on the simple vision to cover the basic needs that would allow communities to rebuild and sustain themselves. The first facility opened in 2006 in Bantoli, India, providing warm meals for children and infirm adults, while empowering and educating the local community to get involved. The solutions proved to have an immense success, reversing the desperate economic situation that teared the communities apart. Because of the program, adults are now able to go back work and support their families. Children returned to school, and young adults are involved in perpetuating the program, which also reduced the crime rate in the area and restored a sense of safety.
The program has since been successfully replicated in Nepal and Ghana.
How you can help
The Food for People program is a model for the sustainable initiatives and projects that WAFA aims to make visible each year, through the WAFA Awards. It empowers and educates communities to be self-sustainable.
You can read more about the FFP and support the program here. You can also contribute by sharing our call for applications, and helping us find similar initiatives in water, air and food security than can be replicated to bring about global change.
