Vera Lucia’s work with APCR brings BePeace training and practice to the children of Costa Rica. “The Academy of Peace is dedicated to transmitting the BePeace practice from generation to generation,” she said. APCR was established in 2003 as a way of promoting the development of social and emotional abilities in children and young adults. To date, nearly 18,000 children have learned and are practicing BePeace in schools, and close to 600 teachers have received BePeace training - all at no cost to the schools, the families or the Costa Rican government.

The home base for the Rasur Foundation, the nonprofit organization under which the APCR operates, is a roaming piece of land in the hills above Costa Rica’s capital, San Jose. Vera Lucia says, “We work in a little piece of paradise. Our office is in an old house on a 2-acre property full of trees, flowers, birds and even a little vegetable garden.”

“I believe that peace is possible and that it begins within. Sometimes,” Vera Lucia suggests, “we just need a little coaching form the outside to awaken our potential.”

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