BETWEEN FOUR EYES LAUNCHES PROGRAMS IN NIGERIA AND RWANDA

NON-PROFIT GROUP OFFERS UNIQUE MINDFULNESS PROGRAMS FOR
CONFLICT AND POST-CONFLICT COMMUNITIES

SAN FRANCISCO – Friday, October 17th, 2008 – Between Four Eyes, a San Francisco-based non-profit, announces the launching of its innovative mindfulness programs specifically geared to educators and health care providers in conflict and post conflict communities. The group’s workshops, which incorporates mindfulness or present moment living, will launch this October for NGO staff in Nigeria and Rwanda. Mindfulness practice has been shown to help increase emotional intelligence and improve brain and immune function.

There has been an increasing interest in ways to live more in the present moment or “now,” with the webcast by Oprah and Eckhart Tolle, the author of The Power of Now, downloaded 27 million times. Theo Koffler, Founder of Between Four Eyes, says, “There is a curiosity for practices that deepen awareness, yet too often many communities, particularly those in greatest need, are not exposed to emerging trends. Between Four Eyes seeks to fill this gap.”

Between Four Eyes was created in order to bring research-backed practices and tools to conflict and post-conflict communities that are hungering to create a future distinct from the past. In Nigeria the group will present at the first annual “International Conference on Global Ethics, Values, and Mindfulness: A Quest for Happiness” held on October 21st and 22nd in Jos. The organizer of the conference, Emmanuel Ande Ivorgba, says, “We are so fortunate and highly privileged to identify ourselves with Between Four Eyes as a catalyst to stimulate genuine personal, inner transformation and authentic positive change from the inside-out. When this happens, a new world will emerge founded on peace, unconditional love, hope and reconciliation.”

In Rwanda, the group will offer workshops to leading NGO’s in Kigali, including staff members of the Kigali Genocide Memorial Center, which was created to honor the hundreds of thousands of people killed in the genocide and to educate people on the tragedy. Between Four Eyes will also conduct a workshop for university students who have been orphaned by the genocide. Along with its programs, on November 2nd at the Kigali Memorial, the group will also launch the Student/Faculty Internet Exchange Program, which will link students and faculty from across the world. Partners of this initiative include Naropa University, The Interdisciplinary Center in Israel and a diverse group of American-based university graduate students and faculty.
“The extraordinary work of Between4Eyes to bring mindfulness and positive character development to conflict and post-conflict communities is inspiring and so important in our world today where the capacity to cultivate compassion in our daily lives can help to bring about a more peaceful world.” – Richard Davidson, Vilas Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry

"To create a truly livable world, free from the kind of conflict and war we see today, understanding our emotions is essential. I see the launching of Between Four Eyes' programs in Africa and the Middle East as a very healthy, and needed, step toward this goal." – Paul Ekman, a professor emeritus of psychology at the University of California Medical School, author of Emotions Revealed, and co-author (with the Dalai Lama) of Emotional Awareness.

 

“Mindfulness conversations put emphasis on being in the moment; acknowledging and controlling our emotions and cultivating a peaceful way of life. This is exactly the kind of conversations that the Rwandan community is willing to be involved in as it searches for a better future after the tragic experience it went through in the past."  Patrick Iregura, Media Department, Kigali Genocide Memorial Center.

For more information, contact:
Theo Koffler
theok@btwn4eyes.org

Between Four Eyes, is a project of the Tides Center, a non-profit 501(c)3 organization.
www.betweenfoureyes.com.