Making a better world around us

Some time ago we had an idea.

Our institution would have thousands of students enrolled in our schools or accredited associations, and more than a million informal students at a distance, studying via the internet, books, videos and CD’s -without paying anything, since downloadable material is free on our website. What this amounts to is an army of practitioners that, if well oriented, could provide priceless services to the community.

Taking into account, just students formally enrolled, if each were to donate a pound a month we could build several basic homes, every month, for those in need. We could build a hospital or a school every year! But then we came to realize that, although nice, this ideal might make us vulnerable to criticism because it involves money. And so we chose another way to help those in need. We began encouraging our volunteers to get involved in national and local welfare campaigns, such as raising clothes or food supplies, programs like Meals on Wheels and other voluntary organizations. Consequently, we don’t deal with money, but we do achieve considerable participation in established social efforts. By developing the instinct to help others, our students begin to take the initiative to donate, visit orphanages, healthcare facilities and other institutions to help in whatever way possible. For example, in Portugal, our schools donate a percentage of each student’s membership to UNICEF, from which they received a medal in recognition. In 2007, Prof. DeRose had the privilege to be recognized as an Honorary Member of the Rotary Club and as a result, we have the opportunity to better serve the community.

We mention this public recognition to illustrate the effort and participation of our students and instructors in social and humanitarian causes.

Open classes

Alongside regular classes run at our schools, we hold free practices open to everyone in parks, gardens and beaches, in numerous cities throughout the world where Our Method is taught.