In a territory that has learned to overcome conflict and natural disasters, peace is not only an agreement: it is a practice. The Yoga Programme starts from a simple idea — the body is the first territory of peace — and takes it into the classrooms, libraries and halls of Pijao’s schools.
Each semester the programme rotates through 3 school campuses, and between 80 and 180 children and young people take part in sessions of yoga, conscious breathing, stretching and relaxation (figures as of May 2026). The mats are rolled out between library shelves or on the community hall floor: you do not need a yoga studio to learn how to breathe.
For many students it is the first time anyone has taught them how to stop. To close their eyes in the middle of the school day, to notice their own pulse, to stretch a body that spends hours at a desk. Teachers notice it in what comes afterwards: groups that return to class calmer, conflicts resolved by talking, concentration that lasts longer.
The programme is part of the Foundation’s wellbeing strand and works hand in hand with Classrooms for Peace: where that programme looks after the school’s roof and equipment, this one looks after what happens inside each student. Both are needed — a dignified classroom and a calm body — for learning to be possible.
