Salvadoran President to Recognize IBREA Foundation and Ilchi Lee

San Salvador- President Salvador Sánchez Cerén of El Salvador will give the “Jose Simeon Cañas” Award to IBREA Foundation and its president and founder, Mr. Ilchi Lee. The award recognizes 7 years of work in effectively changing public school culture in Districto& Italia, a neighborhood with one of the highest levels of violence and crime, situated just outside of the capital of San Salvador. Prior to IBREA Foundation’s involvement, Districto Italia had failed to show any meaningful improvement with other peace and education efforts.

The award was made possible due to the outpouring of support and gratitude from many teachers who witnessed their school’s security and students’ lives change.

Salvadorans make up the fifth largest immigrant group in the United States, nearly matching the number of immigrants from China, which has 200 times the population of the tiny Central American nation. Many Salvadoran immigrants came fleeing their country’s brutal civil war (1979-1992) and later because of a series of natural disasters, at which time the United States extended “temporary protective status’ to Salvadorans. The Trump administration recently decided to end this status, potentially forcing up to 200,000 Salvadoran immigrants out of the US by September 2019.

Today, even though the Salvadoran Civil War is long over, and the country has rebuilt after devastating earthquakes and hurricanes, another disaster is looming. According to many reports, an epidemic of gang violence makes life almost intolerable for the average citizen of El Salvador. And the push for more deportations from the US has the potential to make this situation even worse.

As police and government forces scour the city of San Salvador nightly, hunting for members of the notorious MS13 gang, it can be hard to imagine a hopeful future for El Salvador. And yet, there is good news coming from this long-suffering nation. It comes from the children and what’s happening in the public schools.

Public schools in El Salvador face an uphill battle in keeping students in the classroom. Teachers and students suffer from stress and anxiety, lack of focus, hopelessness, and despair. But thanks to IBREA Foundation and a pilot project requested by the Ambassador of El Salvador to the United Nations, things have started to change.

Through this pilot project, IBREA Foundation has guided the implementation of a mind-body education method called Brain Education to create healthier living and learning environments. Brain Education, which was created by Ilchi Lee, is credited with significantly reducing physically and mentally-related absenteeism for students and teachers in the public schools.

Brain Education is now implemented in 25% of all Salvadoran public schools. Across the board, students and teachers have seen compelling improvements in measures of peer relationships, anxiety, trauma, stress and self-management, and absenteeism.

“IBREA’s program gave me tools to relieve my stress, my anger, my resentment,” said Laura Calderon, one of the Salvadoran students in IBREA Foundation’s Brain Education program. “I see many kids around me falling into gang networks. I learned that if I don’t give up in my choice for peace, then people around me don’t give up and also the people around them. That’s how we can improve our community.”

What is Brain Education?

Brain Education is a five-step method which empowers individuals to create self-sustaining health, happiness, and peace through the power of their own brains. As the creator of Brain Education, Ilchi Lee has worked for almost 40 years to share exercises and principles for health, happiness, and peace. Lee also founded the Body & Brain Yoga company, which has grown into a national leader in yoga, qigong, and meditation.

Following in their founder’s footsteps, Body & Brain Yoga instructors and students have a long tradition of sharing their knowledge with the local community.

The community work of Body & Brain instructors and volunteers has been featured national television:

Arizona's Fox10

Arizona's ABC15

New Mexico's KASA Fox News

California Business Morning

IBREA Foundation’s Project in El Salvador

IBREA Foundation, a 501(c)3 NGO in consultative status with the United Nations, began its Brain Education program in El Salvador in 2011. IBREA Foundation was founded by Ilchi Lee with the mission of providing sustainable mind-body practices to students and teachers in challenging environments around the world.

After the successful introduction of Brain Education in the schools of Districto Italia, IBREA’s mission has expanded to supporting students and teachers in sharing the Brain Education practice with the wider community.

To date, IBREA Foundation has trained over 4,000 people and has certified 1,764 Brain Education trainers in El Salvador — and these trainers continue to teach this much-needed practice in their local community.

Brain Education’s Effects in the U.S.

At home in the U.S., Brain Education has been introduced and implemented in one of the country’s lowest-performing public schools in NYC. This local pilot project has shown similar results to those in El Salvador—of students’ improved focus and behavior along with teachers’ reduced stress and overall better well-being. The project in New York City has brought a D-level school up to A-level over the span of just one year.

Media Contact

David C Driscoll
pr@bodynbrain.com