What Happened at the Montreal "Beyond Prisons" Conference

Picture
Heartfelt thank you for the national fundraising contributions and the volunteer support at this conference. The success of PEP at this event is due to YOU!
TPRF was represented at the ICPA conference by nine PEP volunteers - seven Canadians and two from the USA. The conference, hosted by the Canada Correctional Services, attracted attendees from 70 countries including corrections officials, government officials and academia.

Heart Warming Tidbits: Who was impacted by PEP

Picture
  • Delegates already holding PEPs came to the booth. The delegate from Mauritius saw his picture and his correctional facility in our promotional material. We took a  picture of him holding his picture at our exhibit.
  • The Texas State Department  We met someone from the University of Texas who recognized people in the film Inside Peace. She introduced us to a representative from the Texas State Department.
  • The Africans   Delegates from Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Kurdistan were very attracted to the PEP exhibit because the volunteers spoke French. At the Inside Peace screening the Ugandans left excited with tears in their eyes, saying, "We will make it happen in Uganda!"
  • The Quebec Government   We made a connection at the exhibit with Jean-François Longtin, after his speech on Wednesday, who is the Associate Deputy Minister, Corrections Branch, Ministère de la Sécurité publique du Québec. He came for a very short time to the presentation on Wednesday and spoke with our volunteers.
  • Parole Board of Canada   The representative of the Parole Board of Canada and conference keynote speaker attended Inside Peace.
  • First Nations Elders  In meeting with First Nations elders, there were powerful conversations about peace and the seven sacred teachings about our conduct towards others: wisdom, love, respect, bravery, honesty, humility and truth.
  • The Aussies   Many representatives from Australia had heard of PEP already but were interested in learning more.
  • Fiji  It's amazing that a conference in Canada can influence what happens in Fiji! 3 delegates from Fiji asked us to follow up with more information.
  • Tablet Technology Firms  Several companies who package authorized materials onto tablets for inmates to watch and listen to, expressed interest in making PEP materials available on their tablets.

Astounding Success

In total we estimate that we spoke to over half the people at the conference which represented 70 different countries.
We handed out 350 brochures and over 100 business cards. 
We received 73 cards from people expressing interest in return.
We gave out 13 discs of  Inside Peace and 16 copies of Splitting Arrow.
Our presentation had 25 delegates who stayed for the entire 90 minute presentation.
The Peace Education Program had a two page advertisement in the conference directory which featured all the programs at TPRF with a full page on PEP, an electronic ad on the closed circuit TV and our presentation was video taped for distribution in a few weeks.
We are working on our follow up with the people we met at the conference as a national team and with support from TPRF.
Photos by rawpixel on Unsplash

What's Next:
Saskatoon, here we come!

Picture
Coming up on November 19 and 20 in Saskatoon.

Two PEP volunteers will be giving delegates the experience of participating in the Peace Education Program. 
We look forward to hearing their report!

For More on this Conference;
https://nationalrestorativejusticesymposium.com/            

Stellar Teamwork!

Picture
Kudos to the TPRF representatives at the Montreal conference from Canadians:
  • Annelies Bertsch,
  • Marielle Comeau,
  • Anne De Lorimier,
  • Nicole Huron,
  • Michel Klamph,
  • Emily McLaughlin,
  • Berthe Provencher.
And from the US PEP volunteers: Lucy Collins and Terrence Mathews from Miami Dade Country Corrections.
THANK YOU!!!