Peace cannot be delegated! It begins with you and me, and the choices we make today.

Savitri MacCuish, born in Scotland in 1959, lives in the Netherlands as the founder and director of the World Peace Flame Foundation and Life Foundation International. She has pioneered unique detraumatization programs in crisis areas and teaches practical peacemaking techniques in workshops all over the world. In 1999, she was the driving force behind the creation of the eternal World Peace Flame (WPF), lit by peacemakers from five continents. The WPF burns in monuments in cities around the world. In 2004, it brought together ambassadors from every country to sign a statement for peace.

Savitri MacCuish is guided by the motto: “Transform the world by giving people the tools to transform themselves.” There is one key event that moved Savitri MacCuish to become the sensitive peacemaker she is today. One day in 1994, she was driving through war-torn Bosnia when she was stopped by some old women dressed in black. One came to Savitri’s van, which was loaded with aid materials. “I looked at her, but somehow I could not bear to look in her eyes. She had lost everything. I fumbled for some food to give her. She just stared. Suddenly, it occurred to me, ‘What if this were my own mother?’ Then I stopped trying to her give things and realized that I could help her simply by being unafraid to look at the pain in her eyes. The old woman reached out and patted my hand.” Savitri longed to find a symbol that could give people the hope and strength to help them heal at a deep level, both as individuals and as societies. And so, in 1999, she was the driving force behind the creation of the World Peace Flame. For the first time in history, seven flames of peace were lit by eminent peacemakers on five continents, flown across the oceans by military and commercial aircrafts, and united into one eternally burning World Peace Flame, representing humanity’s highest aspirations for peace. Since then, Savitri’s work has extended to people of all backgrounds, with a variety of innovative peace projects involving politicians, business leaders, and Hollywood stars, as well as refugees and victims of violence, and more recently school children. At the heart of Savitri’s vision is the belief that each and every one of us is responsible for building peace.

World Peace Flame Foundation Life Foundation International