HWPL Peace Education Program: “Peace Begins in the Classroom” Expands in Eastern Europe, Moves into Moldova

Peace begins in the classroom.

These days, this simple sentence stays with me deeply.

As a mother and a teacher, I find myself asking the same question every day when I look into my students’ eyes.

What is it that we should truly pass on to our children?

Is it knowledge? Good grades? Or the ability to outcompete others?

I think I finally know the answer.

What is more precious than any inheritance is a heart that learns and practices peace. So today, I would like to share HWPL’s special story with you.

The journey of peace education that began in Romania is now moving toward Moldova. Along the way, children are learning the language of peace—and I’d love for us to experience that together.

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1. Learning Peace Together: Changes in Romanian Classrooms

HWPL’s peace education is conducted through interactive learning in which both teachers and students participate.

Teachers will grow beyond being “the ones who teach” and become those who practice peace, and students will grow beyond being “the ones who learn” and become those who create peace.

“Peace blooms when we think together and talk together.”

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2. From “Teaching” to “Creating Peace Together”

Delia Mela, an English teacher in Romania, transformed peace lessons into something students didn’t just learn—but something they created together.

Through discussions, co-writing e-books, and sharing ideas, students began expressing peace in their daily lives.

“A peaceful smile travels even through a screen.” Even if the language is different, the hearts face the same direction.

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3. Learning Peace with All Five Senses: The Peace Detectives Class

In one unit of HWPL’s peace textbook, students take part in activities that allow them to experience peace through all five senses.

The children begin with the question, “Is peace a sound? A smell?” and express their thoughts through drawings.

“Little detectives searching for peace.” Through their five senses, children explore and learn the meaning of peace.

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4. Peace Steps Moving Forward to Moldova

HWPL’s peace education is now expanding from Romania to Moldova.

In this place of diverse cultures, languages, and religions, peace education is becoming the first step toward understanding and respecting each other.

“What grows here is not knowledge, but hearts.”

A classroom filled with smiles and respect—the place where peace begins.

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5. Peace isn’t learned from words alone, but from the way we live.

As both a mother and an educator, I want to show children how to live peacefully, rather than simply telling them to “live peacefully.”

Children ultimately learn not from our words, but from the way we live.

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6. Hope Blooming Through Education

As HWPL says, peace is not a distant ideal, but a reality realized through education.

Every day, someone brings that reality to life in their classroom, while someone else does so at home.

May the seeds of peace be planted in every classroom and every home around the world.

Today, I continue nurturing a small seed of peace in my heart with my child.