The Mindfulness Ambassador Council (mac) is a school initiative that offers youth the opportunity to explore the practices of mindful awareness as a pathway to addressing personal, school and community transformation. Central to the Council’s vision is providing a safe platform for students and educators to share personal matters of the heart.  Participants rely on authentic communication and non-judgmental peer interaction in order to explore some of the harsh realities that come with living in an increasingly complex world.  

Although the Council does not teach values explicitly, it exposes students to a process through which values are developed.  By learning how to listen to the expressions of others, student ambassadors develop new approaches that strengthen human relationships, mutual understanding and authentic connection. They are encouraged to make living mindfully a life-long learning process and to be the messengers of mindfulness to their communities, hence mindfulness ambassadors. 

The purpose is to encourage youth leadership as a vital contributor to change, in making their community a peaceful and safe environment.  As part of the Council process, mindfulness ambassadors will apply their newly acquired social and emotional competencies to handle life's challenges skillfully, across school, home, and community. An integral part of the council process is designed to formulate a new Student Code of Conduct that ends the age-old cycle of violence and physical punishment as a disciplinary tool. The revised School Code of Conduct would lay the foundation for mutual respect, dialogue, nonviolence and the use of skillful means of resolving conflict. In addition, a Character Code would be woven into the guidelines, including responsibility, engaged citizenship, kindness, respect, honesty, self-control, and tolerance.

Between Four Eyes provides sixteen lesson plans and instructional strategies to guide the facilitators and students through each mac meeting. Each lesson plan includes a central theme which is the foundation for the days discussion and includes a teaching story, dialogue questions, and experiential exercises that enable the participants to learn and embody the mindful awareness skill and social-emotional competencies.

If you are a community leader, school principal or educator and you are interested in creating a Mindfulness Ambassador Council, please contact:

In Nigeria: Emmanuel Ande Ivorgba Coordinator eivorgba@gmail.com

In Rwanda: Patrick Iregura Coordinator irepashizo@yahoo.com

In North America: Jasmin Zeger Coordinator jasminz@btwn4eyes.org