Young in Prison South Africa: Annual Report 2010

Young in Prison (South Africa) Annual Report 2010 A Summary and Analysis of YiP SA’s projects, activities and organizational development in 2010 Tarisai Mchuchu-Ratshidi, Director YiP SA 2010

Contents

1

Letter From the Director

3

2

South Africa’s Youth in Prison 2010

4

3

Inside-Out-Creative Life-Skills

9

4

Post-Release Mentoring Project

14

5

Youth 4 YiP Volunteer Project

17

6

Community Awareness and Advocacy Activities

18

7

Capacity Building

21

8

Stakeholders and Partnerships

21

9

Sponsors

22

2

1 Letter from the Director 2010 was a year of expansion for Young in Prison South Africa and Young in Prison worldwide in general. As an organisation that works with one of the most vulnerable groups of society, we are indeed grateful for all the support that we have received. In our efforts to become financially independent from our partner Young in Prison Netherlands, we endeavoured to raise five per-cent of our total budget and we succeeded, thanks to Willowtown Oil Foundation. The funds raised exceeded the five per-cent which also enabled us to make up for the short-fall due to the Rand becoming stronger and the Euro-Rand exchange rate depreciating.

We continued to deliver a quality magazine, thanks to the superior materials that our participants worked so hard to produce each quarter and our professional graphic designers design the magazine. The great work produced by our program participants were also exhibited in a more-than-expected successful art exhibition, which received unprecedented attention and an outpouring of support from the public and community! YiP is indeed grateful for such support as it creates an environment in which, after rehabilitation, our participants can come to communities that are willing to give them second chances and truly support them in becoming positive and contributing citizens.

In 2010, YiPSA„s Post-Release Project, excelled and helped prove that when young people or anyone is given an opportunity, they will grab it with both hands. We were able to track our participants and teach them independent-living skills such as how to look for employment, computer-literacy skills and different approaches on how to cope in the workplace. We achieved a 100 per-cent non-recidivism rate in 2010 and proved that as we continue to work with these youth, we will be able to contribute to the future of South Africa and essentially contribute to its safety.

The year 2010 was also a year of expansion for the organisation in regards to capacity. We have three new board members in addition to the existing four board members. We are very grateful that as a young and growing organisation, we are able to draw on their individual expertise and also as a group. We hope that in the year 2011, despite all the challenges we may face, we will conquer because of all the dedicated people we have in the organisation. We are very grateful to the staff, volunteers and stakeholders of Young in Prison.

Tarisai Simona Mchuchu Director, Young in Prison South Africa

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2 South Africa’s Youth in Prison 2010

South Africa‟s history has directly influenced the urban youth of South Africa today. The apartheid regime put our target group at a disadvantage both by sequestering their communities into poverty stricken areas and limiting their opportunities for employment and education, but also instilled in the population 1 emotional triggers which have added to the propensity of criminal behaviour and an ethos of violence. Today South Africa suffers from incredibly high crime 2 and violence rates. This high rate of crime is also influenced by a lack of a free education system, and the debilitating factor of low education and literacy 3 rates within the community and family structure because of both poverty and the systematic oppression of apartheid. Programs for CICL are implemented by 4 grassroots organizations that often lack proper capacity and funding. Although youth, as a collective group, are highly visible on the South African political spectrum, youth-at-risk, especially those that have problematic pasts, are not prevalent in the participation of policy development.

The strain of the current incarceration levels on South Africa is quite high with a 135.7% level of overcrowding in its prison system. Statistics from the South Africa Department of Correctional Services show that on 31/12/2010 there was an inmate population of 106 909 and they are sentenced. On that date there was a total of 104 488 males and 2 421 females in the prison system.

Although youth and children incarceration levels are much lower than those of adults, their numbers are still significantly high in relation to other countries.

On 31 December 2010 there were a total of 31 945 youth in prison (those ages 14-25) and 902 children (under 18 years of age) incarcerated.

As can be noted from the statistics that the number of children and youth have significantly dropped since the release of statistics on 31 April 2009. This significant drop may be attributed to the Child Justice Act coming into effect on 1 April 2010. The changes it brings are discussed below. It is however necessary to note that the Act is new and it will take time to change the actual situation of all children and youth in conflict with the law and also that the government has not even begun to put mechanisms in place as required by the Child Justice Act o adequately rehabilitate all the children and youth. It is also necessary to point out that juvenile prisoners who are awaiting trial do not have access to rehabilitation, education and other training programmes in prison, or 5 to the various recreational activities that may be available to sentenced juveniles . (See Tables 1 and 2)

1

A. Maree, 2003, “Criminogenic Risk Factors for Youth Offenders” in F.J. Bezuidenhout, 2004, Child and Youth Misbehaviour in South Africa: A holistic view, pp 51-79, Van Schalk Publishers: Pretoria.

2 Antoinette Louw, “Crime and perceptions after a decade of democracy,” Social Indicators Research Vol 81, No 2 (2006): 235-255.

3 City of Cape Town, Sustainability Report 2006 Summary, available at: http://www.capetown.gov.za/en/EnvironmentalResourceManagement/publications/Documents/Sustainability_Report_2006_Summary_Leaflet_2072007101122_465.pdf, [Accessed 17 November 2009].

4 Western Cape Youth Commission, Western Cape Status of the Youth Report 2008: A Review of Literature and Studies Conducted on the Youth in the Western Cape, available at: http://www.gsb.uct.ac.za/gsbwebb/userfiles/2008WesternCapeStatusoftheYouthReport.pdf, [Accessed 17 November 2009].

5 Burton P., Leoschut L. and Bonora A. p.17

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Tables 1 and 2 ATD YOUTH 22 240

unsentenced 14-25 year old youth

21 851

are men

389

are women

SENTENCED INCARCERATED YOUTH 31 945

sentenced 14-25 year old

31 351

are men

594

are women

TOTAL ATDS & SENTENCED 54 185

Youth 14-25 years old

ATD INCARCERATION LEVELS AS ON THE LAST DAY OF 2010/12 ATD CHILDREN ATDs Under 13

0

Unsentenced 14-18

326

ATD YOUTH 18-25 year old youth

21 914

ATD WOMEN Women

568

ATD MEN Adult Men TOTAL ATDS

25 091 47 899

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Legal Context in South Africa 2010 “Crimes (committed by child offenders) are increasing, becoming more violent and are happening at an earlier age. On the one hand there is a call for being tougher on crime, where heavier penalties and longer sentences are being encouraged. On the other hand children‟s rights must be kept in mind when 6 holding them responsible for their crimes.” (Professor Jaap Doek, Chairman of the United Nations Committee on the Right of the Child) There is a growing trend of children and youth in conflict with the law in South Africa: “Children who are awaiting trial, are in detention, used by adults to commit crime and involved in organized armed violence and the sentencing of children to life remain a major challenge for the judicial system as South Africa 7 has no concrete laws for dealing with child offenders.” Previously, children‟s rights in South Africa, including those in conflict with the law, were addressed by the South African Constitution, Criminal Procedure Act. But with the newly passed Child Justice Act, there will be separate legislation specifically regarding child offenders. In this section of the analysis, we will specify how YiP‟s work must adjust to the legislation in regards to the rights of children and youth who are in conflict with the law.

Before proceeding with the specific regulations regarding children in conflict with the law, it is important to note that the Constitution and Department of Correctional Services define children and youth differently. The Constitution defines a child as anyone under the age of 18 while Correctional Services operates under the definition of those persons 21 and under. To further complicate matters, a youth is defined under the laws of South Africa as anyone under the age of 35 while Correctional Services operates with an 18-25 year old bracket. This inconsistency, among others in the legislation, has led to poor regulation and implementation of existing laws, as well as poor documentation and research on the situation of children and youth in conflict with the law.

Legislation Reform The Child Justice Act No. 75 of 2008 clearly has set a new pace for South African Juvenile Justice. The Act has put into place what President Nelson Mandela declared pertaining to children in conflict with law in his first State of the Nation Address: that the government will ensure that children will be imprisoned as means of last resort. A lot of academic writers and experts in the field of Juvenile Justice argue and lobby for restorative means to achieve justice for children that are in conflict with law. Furthermore, it is argued that as opposed to children being in prison, it is much better to divert children away from the criminal justice system.

With the new reforms implemented by the Child Justice Act, Young in Prison South Africa (YiP SA) must adjust its focus and aims along with the new legislation. Since the Act came into operation on 1 April 2010, it has been reported that there are less children in youth-care centres and all children that come into conflict with the law after this date will not be sent to a Correctional Facility that is managed by the Department of Correctional Services but they will focus on alternative sentences and try to divert the child away from the justice system. This will have an effect that YiP SA‟s target is fast depreciating and we might 6

“Justice System,” 1 Ibid, 1.

7

6

need to consider programs such as diversion and restorative justice. It should be noted that children that came into conflict with the law before 1 April 2010 will be dealt with by the Criminal Procedure Act and will more likely be sent to prison, thus it will take a few more years before all children are out of Correctional Centres. YiP SA has been working with children who are already incarcerated: the organization mainly focuses on rehabilitation programming with the aim of preparing for reintegration into their respective societies. It is strongly felt that YiPSA may assist government with its post-release program as model for those that are leaving prison. YiPSA‟s work in the prison with the juveniles will continue as there are numbers have not gone down and the Child Justice Act does not apply to them. YiP SA currently focuses on the offender and not on the network that might affect or be affected by the offender. We focus on ensuring and trying to lower the chances of the offender returning back to a life of crime. With these aims, YiP SA might fall short of the standards of restorative justice as we do not facilitate programming that allow for things like family conferencing or victim-offender mediation.

The most preferred form of justice for children is through diversion from the criminal justice system completely. Due to the fact that the Act promotes diversion, it would be noteworthy for YiP SA to explore this field and try to assist as there are a lot of children that are in need and diversion properly supports our ideology that „children do not belong in prison‟. Currently NICRO (National Institute for Crime Prevention and Reintegration of Offenders) is one of the only organisations that work with diversion. Thus a decision will have to be made, whether YiP SA will also start offering such programming.

With Young In Prison‟s current emphasis on rehabilitation and reintegration, we are already on a good platform in regards to the direction juvenile justice is moving toward in South Africa. It would be quite simple to add a restorative justice aspect to our programming as well. Thus, from a advocacy or lobbying point of view, we could start writing research papers that would allow us to be on the forefront of policy decisions and contributions in different Committees in Parliament.

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3 INSIDE-OUT: CREATIVE LIFE SKILLS Aim

Giving youth and children in conflict with the law an opportunity to reconcile emotional conflicts as well as promoting self-awareness and personal growth using creative art Structure of the Program 3.1 Magazine-Making Project The year was divided up into two terms. Each term resulted in the creation of a magazine and a presentation. Each terms was divided into two sub-terms, this was done to accommodate the transient nature of Pollsmoor Prison. The creative life-skills project is run three days a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday with the youth in G&H Section of Pollsmoor Youth Care Centre.

Process Young in Prison South Africa refined its methodology in the year 2010 and worked on getting the participants to not only deal with their emotional issues constructively but also learn the various skills involved in producing quality artworks. The process as developed from many years of practice where participants are encouraged to reconcile emotional conflicts as well as promoting self-awareness and personal growth using creative art. Each workshop is carefully planned and structured to fit into the larger process of the term. At the beginning of the process, participants engage in activities that allow them to get to know each other better, become comfortable with one another and develop trust within the group. Within each workshop, various activities are planned to get the participants to be focused, relaxed, open and creative as well as more intense activities that get the participants to process and express the issues at hand. Visual arts activities may get paired with drama, dance activities may follow on from something musical. The participants often reflect on the previous activity with another creative activity. With each stage getting them to look a little bit deeper at the issue at hand. This allows for their expression and reflection to take place in a more abstract manner that is not too threatening or making them feel too vulnerable. The participants only need to disclose what they are comfortable with and they are not pushed to deal with anything that they are not ready to handle. Initially there was very little discussion about the work but as they became more comfortable with each other and they begun to feel personal shifts they requested to discuss matters more and there were times when we talked at length about how it made them feel and what they were experiencing. The work is based on many years of working with young people but there is still a lot of room for experimentation and continuous reflection regarding what is working and what isnâ€&#x;t.

Prison can often be a very hostile environment where prisoners need to be constantly on guard and concerned for their safety. These workshops offer, at the very least, a respite from this but with the participants full involvement in the programme and willingness to open up there can be many more important and meaningful rewards. The programme gives them an opportunity to process this experience and express how they are feeling, which they donâ€&#x;t have often. It is also a more productive use of their time, as opposed to sitting outside in the courtyard. By doing activities in groups participants learn to work with other

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people and develop relationships of trust, respect and support. Participants also learn to communicate with each other as well a broad audience, through the magazine. They get an opportunity to formulate their ideas and feelings and express them in a product. Through some of the activities they are given the chance to develop creative thinking and are encouraged to come up with new possibilities for after they are released. The participants are able to develop positive supportive relationships with the facilitators and thus have adults that they trust who they can seek advice from. Performing in front of an audience and being involved in a professional looking magazine improve the self esteem of participants. The participants develop a group bond with others which strengthens their sense of belonging.

Project Content YiPSA focussed on the meaning of the title „Inside-Out‟ and how the magazine content should truly reflect the name. The topics that were focussed on in the year 2010 centred on IDENTITY, as we discovered through research and practice that we can never change where they come from or their immediate surroundings, but we can give them tools to discover who they are and give them a platform to express their individuality. In the end, if we do all this, we would have ensured that we have allowed a young mind to develop positively and should any negative influences come into their lives, they will be strong enough to withstand it with their positive attitudes. Each life-skill taught was linked to a form of art in which they were also taught the skill in which they can produce it. This was achieved with the workshops focussed on the way they view themselves

as portrayed in their self-portraits and their own ‘coat of arms’. The main theme was ‘who am I’, thus there was a lot of self-reflection in this theme. Keeping with the theme on identity and one’s place in society, we focussed the main event of the year ‘FIFA WORLD CUP’ and how they saw themselves in the main event. We also questioned their friendships, asking what they considered a real friend and this also assisted in dealing with issues of gangsterism and keeping close to positive people. We have had great opportunities to have guest artists at the workshops such as Sakhile (who plays with Goldfish teach them music and lessons around how to listen, trust and be aware of the talents within). He uses singing, whistling and humming etcetera.

Results of the Project The quality of the presentations at the end of the term improved dramatically. At the end of each term the Inside Out magazine is issued, the participants have an opportunity to present the various life-skills they have learnt through a production of music and drama. In the past three years, we have always witnessed the participants producing a play that replays the manner in which they got incarcerated. In 2010 we witnessed a change in the productions, the participants in the first term they came up with a play that looked at the way a parent feels when a child commits crime, this showed us that they really had learnt about responsibility and they saw themselves as responsible agents. In the last presentation participants designed a fantastic program in which they focussed on a young man who had just been released from prison and wanted to be a dj; the story then follows the young man in his quest for success and 9

shows that there are people out there who are willing to help. During his struggles, he continues to remember the lessons that Young in Prison taught him while he was in prison. This showed me that the workshops engaged with these issues and that the boys understood what they were taught. The theme of identity worked really well in the year 2010.

YiP Participants learn how to work as a team and rely on each other.

Response from Participants The magazine is a tangible thing that the participants love to work on, they get to see their names in print and this assists in boosting their self-esteem. The participants have expressed that they love to share their stories because the community get to see that they are human and that they have taken responsibility of their actions. They also like the fact that other children and youth at risk get to see the reality of prison through their experiences and hopefully that they learn from their mistakes.

Progress of the Project in 2010 The Magazine-making project improved as it has been doing for the two years in 2010. As every year, we faced challenges which will be outlined below.

Despite the challenges, our project continued to grow. The first improvement is in our methodology and program content. Making life-skills the foundation on which we extract artistic products to make the content of the magazine works not only for our participants but also serves to educate the public at large about the challenges that our target group faces. We attribute the progress and definition of this project to Julia Merrett and Clinton Osbourne, who came with fresh energy and a rigid work ethic to the organisation and as a result ensured that the projectâ€&#x;s stability and success. We also had new facilitators to fill in when Clinton left, Damian who is an ex-youth in conflict with law and also was an inmate in the Medium A Youth-Care Centre and Masande who is a professional Choreographer. These two guys brought fresh new energy to the program and also the fact that they both came from the same background as our participants, made it easier for them to communicate and interact.

Challenges and Solutions Young in Prison decided to focus on quality and not quantity of the participants in the project, thus we decided to keep a group of maximum 15 participants.

Initially this worked but was disturbed by a gang fight in one of the cells and some of our own participants were part of the fight. They were all sent to single cells and this meant that they could not come to the project. We had to start getting a new group and this disrupted the rigidity of the group, we ended up working with a bigger number. We ended up working with this bigger group and it turned out pretty well.

The major challenge in the female section that led to us halting the project in that particular section was that the administrators of the Female Section tried to accommodate our project with great difficulty to the point that the solution that was presented to us would affect the way our project is designed and also the

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results that we expect from the project. We explained to the section that as an organisation we have a mandate that is determined by what our funders advance to us therefore we will not be able to continue our programming with the girls because we were not getting adequate access to the girls who we can work with. We explained that if this line is broken it will severely affect the way we run our Mentorship Program and of course the funders will pull out. YiPSA therefore submitted that in order to continue an amicable relationship with the Department of Correctional Services; it will intensify and increase the resources that it gives to the Medium A section as there is more participants that need its program. YiP found that the girls have school during the hours we went in and as an organisation; we would never want them to choose between getting a formal education and our programs. In November, we had a meeting with the head of Development and Care and they decided that in the year 2011, YiPSA may send volunteers in and we can see how we can work together again. We will only be doing Youth4YiP projects in the female section once a week.

.

2010 Magazine Making Participants Transient Participants

Male/Female 40

Medium A (Male)

131

Consistent Participants

57

Female Section

0

Reintegration Participants

70

Number of Workshops

11

THEATRE PROJECT 3.2.1 Shakespeare Storm In collaboration with the Independent Theatre Movement of South Africa (ITMSA), YiPSA delivered two Shakespeare plays in Bonnytoun House of Safety.

The projects runs for 11 days, 3 hours a day and the participants are taught different techniques of the dramatic arts and also learning how to engage with the th Shakespearian text. On the 12 day, the participants present their play to their peers, parents and community members.

Progress of the Project in 2010

The ITMSA Artistic Director, Tauriq Jenkins They performed brilliantly and we also found that Shakespeare was an incredible way to express themselves; discover their talents and also learn how to use the English language. There was an incredible change in the boys and we would like to thank ITMSA’s Directors Tauriq Jenkins and Seraj Jenkins for dedicating their time and expertise to our project. We are also grateful to the parents and community members that attended the presentation. Your support means a lot to the participants we work with and will assist greatly in their reintegration process.

We also did a Hip-Hop theatre project in partnership with Conscious Flowz. It was highly successful as they taught the participants ideas of ‘what makes a good leader and how to recognise good leaders within their communities and also how they can be a leader in their own right’. YiPSA was very impressed with how the participants identified with the facilitators and used poetry and dance as a way to express themselves. W e really appreciate the hard-work that Akio Kawahito and his team put in making the presentation a success. We especially thank La Familia Ayara for sharing their successful methodology with us; we are a growing as a result of it.

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4 Post Release Project Aim The post-release project aims to ease the transition from prison to society for program participants by equipping them with independent living skills.

Structure of the Project Structure and Progress of the Project 2010 In the year 2010, YiPSA had hopes that the Post-Release would essentially move from being a pilot-project. This did not materialise because of Big Brother Big Sister South Africa shutting down and in April Deon Engelbrecht leaving. Yet, we survived the year and had wonderful successes despite the setbacks.

We instituted changes in the way Post-Release was run in the following manner. The changes were made because Melinda has a background in counselling

and it would have been a waste not to utilise her experience. In addition to her experience, we hired Damian, an ex-member of the 28 gang from Pollsmoor, who also was in Medium A, eight years ago. He assists Melinda and Julia is running the workshops, and we saw amazing results in the way the boys related to him and gained confidence in their abilities to change their lives after release and lead a positive life.

Pre-Release: Melinda and Damian went into Pollsmoor each week on Tuesday and work with the group that Julia, Masande and Damian work with during the week in the creative life-skills workshops. This also assisted us in ensuring that the intensive model we planned is executed. Melinda and Damian solely worked on preparing the mentees for their release and taking down information that will assist us in ensuring that they are properly reintegrated. They also kept their case files up-to-date. This assisted us in that since Melinda is from Young in Prison and works from the office, she was forming a relationship with the participants while they are still inside and also encourage the mentees to keep in-touch with the organisation after release.

Post-Release: The mentees were integrated and received structural support from the organisation by coming into the office and attending the Computer Literacy courses at the Ken Saro-Wiwa training centre. We assist them in getting an id document for those who do not have and also helping them with

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different networks. All the staff has developed relationships with them and we feel that having Melinda manage their cases and taking them to various organisations, companies for interviews is working out better than solely relying on mentors.

With the new structure in place we discovered that the management became more in control of the project and the mentees developed an individualised connection with the organisation. Getting the Coordinator involved in the workshops and focussing on the idea of release and life outside prison walls, brought reality into many of the mentees’ lives and this can be seen in the poetry written in the Inside Out magazine and also the stories written for the final presentations by the mentees themselves.

Our partnership with the YMCA continues to thrive and we partnered with them in their Youth Justice in Action, a campaign that is supported by their international Y-Care in giving a platform to young people who are interested in the laws of their country and changing policies regarding juvenile justice. This is collaboration with the United Nations. Our mentees attended the workshops and although none of them were chosen, they got an opportunity to be involved in campaigning for the change of laws that have affected them before and also affect so many other children and youth in conflict with the law.

We also developed close links with different companies and some of our participants were fortunate enough to gain internships and employment through such links. Two of our mentees received training at Media Film Services and were taught how to build stages and the ins and outs about filmmaking. One of our female mentees interned as a Co-Producer for Bush Radio, this was an incredible opportunity for her as she has dreams of becoming a journalist. Some participants were employed by various organisations within the Community House, which we greatly appreciate.

The Post-Release mentees did not only receive independent-living skills in the form of hard-skills only but they received soft-sills through a program called Bright Star through the Bright Star Africa Foundation and also Motivational Training delivered by Madge Du Preez. The Bright Star and Motivational Training

made a considerable difference to the personal development and social skills of the participants. Bright Star focuses on 3 main points: Brilliant Self, Brilliant Relationships and Brilliant Leadership. The participants enjoyed the workshops very much and this was proved by their excellent attendance and the evaluation session at the end.

Challenges and Solutions The initial challenge to the Post-Release Mentoring project was the closure of Big Brother Big Sister South Africa. This is because it was very sudden and done after we had already finalised our year-plan and signed a contract with them. A further blow was delivered by Deonâ€&#x;s resignation and subsequent disappearance without properly handing over the project to his successor. All these challenges ensured that the project remain in the pilot-stages. Despite these major blows, we managed to save the project because of the dedication of the staff members and also gaining a qualified and visionary Post-Release Coordinator. Without any structure, she managed to work while restructuring the project and delivered a quality service to our mentees. As a result of such dedication, we were able to reach our targets for 2010 and assist many mentees.

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The challenge we face externally is that many of our mentees are released on parole and some of the parole officers are not very sensitive to the positive efforts that they try to make in order to change and/or improve their lives. We usually start by writing to their parole officers, explaining that they are now a

part of the YiP Post-release program. This usually makes things a lot easier for them in terms of being home on time and having to do community service.

We are now known by the parole officers and this really helps, as there is a relationship of trust and parole officers know that parolees attending YiP are usually keeping away from trouble and crime, therefore they do not need to be so strict with their parole conditions. This is true for most of them and not all of them, so we keep on striving with the difficult ones.

Due to the fact that we did not have psychologists and the mentees were coming into our office space, we had difficulties in maintain distance and professional boundaries at times. The mentees often feel that YiP has created a safe environment and hence were are a family, this has caused a lof dependency on the organisation and some of them need us to hold their hands in everything they do. They feel that without the organisation and the staff they will fall apart. In the year 2011, we have strategized that we will put rigid structures in place to reduce this dependency, such as to liaise with other organisations so that they can spend time away from YiP as well.

Successes of the Post Release Project All the participants that were released and joined our project did not re-offend in the year 2010. This is a fact that they were all proud of. At a debriefing session we held in December 2010, they all confessed that because they were encouraged to pursue positive friendships and activities, they did not engage in crime and also they were kept strong and away from bad influences. We feel that this is a positive and with resources and increase in capacity we can be able to reach many youth and children in conflict with the law and ensure that they do return to a life of crime.

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5 Youth 4 YiP Aim

To fill in the gaps where volunteers can easily deliver quality programs, to offer entertaining activities to young people stuck awaiting trial, and to offer a way in which members of the community can get involved as part of building a network and advocating for the target group Structure Volunteers are trained and paired into groups in accordance with their expertise, interest and capability to deliver a project. The Youth4YiP projects are run mainly in Bonnytoun House of Safety, with a few exceptions being in Pollsmoor Prison, Medium A. Progress of the Project 2010 YiPSA would not be able to spread its wings as wide as it does without the self-less sacrifice of the volunteers within these programs. With the partnerships that we developed in the year 2009, we have grown stronger because we have had a constant supply of young people with special talents and backgrounds that serve to inspire our participants. We exceeded the number of workshops in 2010 because we had a high volume of volunteers and interns which meant that we ended up doubling the workshops run per day thus reaching many children in the youth centres. We ran life-skills, literacy, games, boxing and soccer.

There were smaller projects such as music, dance and basketball that were also run. We were incredibly fortunate to have the assistance of the Computer Science students from the University of Cape Town running computer literacy workshops for our participants. Our relationship with the Council on International Education Exchange (CIEE) and Stanford Education Exchange Program strengthened. .

2010 Youth4YiP Participants

Male/Female

Transient Participants

280

Consistent Participants

313

Number of Workshops Bonnytoun House of Safety

442

6

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Community Awareness and Advocacy Media Attention 2010 saw YiP SA in the news throughout the year. Media appearances include:           

An interview with Tarisai Mchuchu and Chengetai Maruziva on Keeping it Real on SABC 2; An article on YiPSA in the Globalist in their March/April 2010 Issue; An Interview on GoodHope FM, coverage of YiPSA work at the FANFEST (World Cup), 17 June 2010; Associated Press (News Agency in the UK) an insert of Insider Art II; Articles in the Cape Times, Cape Argus, Tatler and the Art-times on the Insider Art II exhibition; Article in the People‟s Post on the Shakespeare Storm, Hamlet; An Interview on Bush-Radio about Gender and Youth Imprisonment in August 2010; An interview on Bush-Radio Morning Cruise (Chenge on what YiPSA does) in August 2010; An Interview with Tarisai and Nana on the OTHERWISE:SAFM about the „Safe Side‟ Film on 23 November 2010; Shakespeare Storm coverage on Radio NPR http://www.npr.org/2011/01/04/132650791/bringing-the-bard-behind-bars-in-south-africa Articles in Die Son, Cape Times and Cape Chameleon on the Film „Safe Side‟;

UCT In the year 2010, we managed to distribute our magazines amongst the students of the nearest University; UCT, to our centre and also where we recruit most of our volunteers. We were able to recruit and engage with various students on the issue of youth and children in conflict with the law and their incarceration.

The issue of awaiting trial came up and we presented some lectures on it to the Development and Poverty class. We also presented a lecture on different International donors and the risks of relying on one donor. We found that engaging with students who are essentially the future leaders of this country and their decisions will affect the way this country is administered is the best way because we are planting in their minds that there is essentially a group of children and youth that are often forgotten and if not dealt with properly, they will become adult criminals. Therefore YiPSA wants or advocates for the community at large, including academics and politicians to take the matter seriously and endeavour to make serious changes in the system.

Department of Correctional Services YiPSA had an opportunity to submit a written comment to the Parliamentary Committee on Correctional Services Budget Vote 2010/2011, Vote 20, this is a monitoring body that ensures that there are sufficient checks and balances to monitor and evaluate the way our government departments render services to the public and this one specifically monitors Correctional Services. Our submission to the Committee centred around the „Care and development of Children and Juveniles in Corrections‟; we submitted to the Committee that “all inmates of any age are vulnerable and in need of development however, the most vulnerable of all groups are the children and juveniles. Once sentenced, children and youth in the care of DCS should be put through an intensive rehabilitation process. Youth who have offended are the highest risk group for reoffending. Unlimited access to this group is available during

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incarceration, and DCS should seize this opportunity to rigorously combat the underlying causes of criminality through an intensive therapy-based, restorative justice influenced, education and vocational training program which focuses on ensuring that these youth desist in their criminal behaviour. A useful model is the Missouri Model of Juvenile Justice which is a proven to reduce recidivism rates significantly. Characteristics of the model include: small scale residential houses (up to 12 inmates) placed in communities, intense therapy and education. In addition to this system working to reduce recidivism, it has also proven cheaper for the state”. The paper will be annexed to this report for any further reference.

We also had an opportunity to make a submission to the „Special Task Force‟ appointed by the Minister of Correctional Services to investigate the issues of overcrowding and how the department may overcome this challenge. We argued for alternative sentences to be implemented and that the four departments responsible for the administration of Security, Justice, Corrections and Social Development should have a system where they interact and have proper checks and balances so that less people enter the justice system.

Distribution of the Magazine Approximately 1,000 of the April edition, 1,500 of the August edition and 1,000 of Inside Out have been distributed throughout Cape Town, including at Lentegeur High School, Florida High School, Ravensmead High School, Parkdene High School, Calenia Primary School, De Novo Drug Centre, the Really, Really Free Market and the University of Cape Town.

Insider Art II: Exhibition Young in Prison successfully launched the third issue of ‘Inside Out’ magazine at the Word of Art gallery when we did the Insider Art II exhibition on the 26th of May 2010. The exhibition serves as a community awareness and advocacy vehicle as it showcases art work created by youth participants from Pollsmoor Prison. The exhibition was open to the public for a whole week and we enjoyed a lot of support and interest from the public. Over 300 people attended the exhibition throughout the week; this is double the amount of people who attended Insider Art I. World Cup Tournament in Pollsmoor Young in Prison South Africa in collaboration with Pollsmoor, Medium A (Juvenile Section), organised a ‘Mock Soccer World Cup’, which saw the juveniles residing in the section fighting for the glorified cup. They also got to predict who will be the winner of the tournament. Portugal and New Zealand made it to the finals and surprisingly enough, New Zealand won!!!!

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It was a great day filled with fun and as usual, our sponsors of the soccer kits, First National Bank’s Corporate Volunteers were there. They were filled with so much energy and brought the participants refreshments. Young in Prison is impressed by the example set by the corporate volunteers of First National Bank. We are very grateful that you did not give us a handout and walk away. With Pearl and her team coming to assist in our events and workshops, we are grateful that they have invested their time and strength to further assist us in achieving our goal of ‘promoting the right to positive development’ for each youth in our program. We are also very grateful for the dedication shown by the DCS members and Young in Prison staff and volunteers. May our partnership continue to grow as we strive to secure South Africa’s future and make it safe.

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Capacity Building

2010 was a big year for YiP, in regards to organizational growth and trainings. Our staff grew from two to four in-office employees, as well as increasing our workshops in Pollsmoor, hosting multiple trainings, and building our volunteer base through a new group of highly qualified youth-worker mentors. We also moved into a bigger office at the Community House, with an extra room to host training for our post-release participants.

Staff Development This year has been an incredible year for staff development. We welcomed Melinda Bechus, our new Post-Release Coordinator who is also a Counsellor to our team. We welcomed back Lauren Dollar, who worked really hard to develop and increase our fundraising capacity. Finally we gained three qualified youth program facilitators, Damian Snyders; Masande Narwele and Andile Appolis.

Internship Program In addition to hired staff, we also hosted multiple qualified interns from all over the world throughout 2010. Thank you to all of our interns who gave willingly of their time and energy: Sander Timmermans; Tarek Slimani; Jesse Allen, David Bernard Curran and Max, Mark and Lisa.

Trainings   

Fundraising Training (Partner Meeting 2010) Alternatives to Violence Program Training for facilitators and staff Volunteer Training of our volunteers

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Partner Meeting 2010 Young in Prison Foundation hosted another successful partner meeting in Colombia after the first one in 2009 was held in South Africa. Young in Prison South Africa, Director attended the meeting. ‘We learnt a lot from each partner country, especially our host partner La Familia Ayara; they taught us how to work better with awaiting trial children who do not have a static sentence using the short-intensive/ high-impact method’. We had an opportunity to see how they run work-shops with professional Hip-hop; Graffiti and Break-dance facilitators. This inspired us to try this in Bonnytoun as a pilot. .

Partner Meeting 2010

Partner Meeting 2010

Partnerships and Stakeholders YMCA- The YMCA is another organization that works inside Pollsmoor within the same section as we do. Our relationship continues to grow and they assist us with venues for trainings and we also held our first AGM at their premises at no cost, which we really appreciate. We are grateful to Llewellyn Syce and his team. We also partner with them in their after schools program, in which we distribute our magazines.

Independent Theatre Movement of South Africa (ITMSA)- The ITMSA have partnered with us in 2010 to bring the Julius Caesar project to Bonnytoun. The project was a huge success, and we plan to repeat the project in 2010 in partnership with this theatre company. Thank you to Tauriq Jenkins.

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Council for International Educational Exchange (CIEE)- CIEE has partnered with us here at YiP and has provided us with a multitude of volunteers who have come to Cape Town to study abroad.

Department of Social Development- Perhaps one of our most vital stakeholders is the Department of Social Development (DSD), which is responsible for administering Bonnytoun House of Safety. In addition, they have supplied 3 of our post-release participants with scholarships for skills training courses. Thank you to Mr. Baker and Mr. Williams.

Department of Correctional Services- Finally, once again one of our most vital stakeholders is the Department of Correctional Services (DCS), without whose support, YiP programs in Pollsmoor Prison would not be able to take place. Thank you to Ms. Benn, Mr. Martin, Mr. Jacobs, Mr. Lekhooana, Ms. Qesha, and Ms. Antoni.

Thank you to our sponsors:

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