After learning that Costa Rica did not have an army, Rita Marie Johnson moved from the United States to Costa Rica over 15 years ago with the mission of strengthening its peace model. Now she serves as director of the Rasur Foundation, which she founded in 1997 to implement peace education in Costa Rica.

In 2006, Rita Marie wrote a Ministry for Peace initiative that was embraced by Costa Rica's current president, Oscar Arias, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. The Ministry for Peace bill has no opposition and is coming to vote soon before the Legislative Assembly Rita Marie was authorized by the Vice President of Costa Rica to represent Costa Rica at the Summit of the Global Alliance for Ministries and Departments for Peace that took place in Japan in September 2007. Upon her request, the Costa Rican government has now agreed to host the 2009 Summit of the Global Alliance.

Johnson served the United Nations University for Peace in Costa Rica from 1999-2002. In 2000, she published a book inspired by the poem Rasur, written by Roberto Brenes Mesén in 1946, that predicted Costa Rica would become a model of peace. The poem tells of a teacher, Rasur, who comes to a village and awakens the people to the wisdom and compassion in their hearts. Rita Marie's book, The Return of Rasur: The Story that Holds the Answer to Education in Our Time, led her to write and produce the musical entitled Rasur. This musical was decreed a cultural event of national interest by the President of Costa Rica.

In 2002, Johnson discovered a powerful synergy between two methods, HeartMath for "feeling peace" and Nonviolent Communication for "speaking peace." This combination evolved into the practice of BePeace and inspired her to found the Academy for Peace of Costa Rica. By 2005, the Academy won the Changemakers Innovation Award: Building a More Ethical Society, chosen from 79 projects in 32 countries. Now this Academy is working with the Ministry of Education to train peace teachers, called "Rasurs," who will implement BePeace in every high school in Costa Rica. The Academy will also work closely with the new Ministry for Peace.

Johnson has presented BePeace workshops in eight states in the USA as well as Canada, Europe and Central America and for the UN University for Peace. In November 2006, she completed a speaking tour in Japan on Costa Rica as a model of peace. In July 2007, she served on the plenary panel "Women of Power" at the International Women's Peace Conference in Dallas. In September 2007, she was the keynote speaker for the World Day of Prayer at Unity Village, Missouri. In April 2008, she participated as a key thought partner in creating the National Peace Academy of the USA at Case Western Reserve University.

Rita Marie and her husband, Juan Enrique Toro, introduced the UN-sponsored educational campaign, The Season for Nonviolence, to Costa Rica, which is now sponsored by government ministries every year. In 2002, the couple purchased a two-acre property as headquarters for the Rasur Foundation. The people who live and work there strive to practice BePeace in every moment so that an authentic culture of peace can be experienced. For further information, www.academyforpeacecr.org or contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it