Thousands meditate peace in Africa

More than 750,000 people in 34 African cities, including Lagos and venues in 28 other countries across the globe were at the weekend led by the founder of the Art of Living Foundation, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, to meditate for peace in Africa.

The yearly event, tagged: “I Meditate Africa” campaign, held closely with the commemoration of Africa Day and the establishment of Organisation of African Unity (OAU), also gathered notable people in Lagos, joined by webcast to pray for peace on the continent.

According to the foundation, the initiative aims to promote peace across Africa, through the use of meditation as part of leading peace building technique.

Speaking after the event, one of the Volunteers of the foundation, who led the initiative in Nigeria, Raghu Sharma said: “At a time where our headlines are dominated by racism, violence, crime, corruption, misunderstanding and lack of human values, a focus on unity, harmony and peace building on a deeper level is the hour of the need”.

In one of the most unique elements of the event, Luzira Prison in Uganda saw 250 inmates join the spiritual leader via the live link up for the peace campaign.

Sharma said that the foundation, which has presence in more than 152 countries across the world, would boost its operations in Africa, particularly Nigeria to combat growing violence on the continent.

He said the group has carried out a series of initiatives geared towards the peace and prosperity of Africa, particularly in South Africa, Kenya and Uganda, stating that effort is currently on to reach Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the Northern part of the country.

“The world is one family and believe in the peace of Africa and that is why we are pursuing this idea. When you look at the violence figures across the world today, Africa has a large share, so our target is to bring that figure down and project prosperity in Africa,” Sharma said.