InsideOut The magazine of Young in Prison South Africa www.younginprison.org.za Issue 20 | November 2015 | Silver Lining
S ilver Lining
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We are the silver lining in any and every dark cloud we could ever find. There is no need to go looking for the light when you bring it with you. TYLER KNOTT GREYSON
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| THIS ISSUE
EDI TO RIAL Silver lining. These two words are used to highlight the hopeful side of a situation that looks dim and depressing on the surface. It’s intended to encourage one to look on the brighter side of things – to deliberately look for and focus on the positive. No two words could be more appropriate for this issue of InsideOut.
Picture: Bev Meldrum
Khethiwe Cele, Director of Young in Prison South Africa E: khethiwe@younginprison.org.za
Cover picture: Luyolo A.
In the pages that follow, you’ll find the journeys of our participants in the last cycle of the year 2015. From a programme implementation point of view, it would be fair to say that this cycle was the most challenging we had in 2015. From participants being moved to other correctional centres in the middle of our programme at Leeuwkop, to the evacuation of inmates at Pollsmoor due to an outbreak of a disease related to rat infestation, these occurrences caused quite a disruption in our programmes. However, despite these challenges, the participants in this cycle remained adaptable and sustained their unwavering determination to learn as much from the programme as possible. Their motivation was that “when life knocks you upside down, it is possible to turn upside up”. Or put differently, always look for the silver lining! It is said that prison can either make you or break you. What one does with the time and the rehabilitation programmes extended to them is entirely up to them. The reflections of participants in this cycle are indicative of their intension to use their time in detention wisely and towards making positive choices from here onwards. They’ve expressed their thoughts and feeling through various forms – visual art, poetry, life maps and storytelling. In the same way that they have invited us into their lives and experiences before and after incarceration, we invite you to think critically about their stories, and what role you could play in creating a safer society for us all. Be part of the solution! Until next time, Khethiwe
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| ABOUT
INT ERV IEW An interview with THABISA GQOTSO, Case Intervention Officer (CIO) at Brandvlei Youth Correctional Centre, Western Cape. Ms Gquotso, tell us a bit about your work and what you enjoy about it? My name is Thabisa Gqotso, and I am a CIO at Brandvlei Youth Correctional in Cape Town. I co-ordinate correction programmes to the youth who are detained at Brandvlei. I consider myself to be a rehabilitator-at-heart – I am deeply passionate about the rehabilitation of youth offenders during their time here at Brandvlei. In your opinion, how does the YiPSA programme impact on its participants? I have worked with the YiPSA team for the past two years, and I find that their programme plays a great role in the rehabilitation process of our guys. As a CIO, I work closely with inmates and I can definitely pick up the positive behaviour change in those who participate in the YiPSA programme in comparison to those who don’t. Also, the participants feel the impact. Even though YiPSA works with them for only three months, they say that the programme helps them to distress from the pressures and anxiety of being in prison, and that the way in which the programme is delivered makes it easy for them to learn and express themselves. What else do you appreciate about the YiPSA Programme? The eagerness and willingness of the youth to sign up for the YiPSA programme is always encouraging to me as a CIO. As someone who works closely with offenders, I find that I learn a lot from watching how the YiPSA facilitators work with their participants. Seeing the workshops in action and how the participants open up through their artwork, I’ve gained some important insights into the challenges, regrets, fears, hopes and dreams of the offenders. I find this helps me and the other officers in how we engage with them. n
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| THIS ISSUE
In this edition
LIFE SKILLS PROGRAMME
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Collective work: Brandvlei
LIFE SKILLS PROGRAMME
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Collective work: Leeuwkoop
LIFE SKILLS PROGRAMME
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Collective work: Goodwood
POETRY
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Spoken word
HOLIDAY PROGRAMME
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Ottery camp
The contributors Owen Butler is the Programmes Co-ordinator at Young in Prison South Africa (YiPSA), and the longest-standing member of the organisation having joined it in 2010. Owen is based in Cape Town. He has over ten years experience of working with at-risk youth and with youth in conflict with the law. Owen is a qualified Child and Youth Care Worker and has years of experience as a Life Skills Facilitator. In this issue of InsideOut, Owen led the Goodwood and Brandvlei Life Skills Workshops, which you find featured as from page 5 and 17 respectively. Joseph Mofokeng is the Entrepreneurial Development Facilitator for YiPSA’s post-release programme in Johannesburg. At the time of developing the material for this issue, Joseph facilitated the Life Skills Workshops at Leeuwkop Youth Centre. You can read about this and view the collective work of the participants on page 11 of this issue. Joseph has been with YiPSA since 2012. He now trains and mentors our Johannesburg post-release participants in entrepreneurship and managing small businesses. Lukas Notthoff is a student from Germany who spent three months of his holidays volunteering at YiPSA’s Ottery Programme. During this time, he teamed up with another YiPSA volunteer and together, they initiated a holiday sports programme for the boys at the Ottery Youth Centre, as well as renovations to the boys’ hostel, including upgrading the centre’s garden to provide a more dignified living experience for the youth there. You can read about this on page 23 of this issue.
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| BR ANDVLEI
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| BR ANDVLEI
BRA ND VLEI In this cycle of workshops at Brandvlei, we worked with 15 young men who were half-way through their prison sentences. Over a twelve-week period, we focused the workshops on “cooperating positively”, “setting goals”, and “being a positive actor in society”. The boys were encouraged to explore and express these visioning and goalsetting exercises through various creative means, such as visual art and performing short plays to convey their own goals and visions. Another important theme in this cycle was around what steps each of them could take towards becoming positive actors in society – whether it is positive choices they make and behaviours they choose to portray while still serving their sentence, or what positive choices they will make when they are released and go back into their community.
MY VISION Picture: unknown
Article: Owen Butler & Khethiwe Cele, Facilitator: Owen Butler Brandvlei Correctional Centre is a fairly new correctional facility, having being opened in 2013. The centre houses 3000 inmates, and its youth centre prides itself on having offender-rehabilition at the core of its ethos. To this end, the youth centre offers a number of sports, cultural, recreational and educational programmes that are aimed at empowering and developing the youth with skills to help their rehabilitation during detention and minimize the chances of re-offending post their release.
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| BR ANDVLEI
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| BR ANDVLEI
MY VISION This page: Nathan P. (top), Jeswill D. (above left), Justin H. (above right), Andre W. (left) | opposite page: unknown (top), Bradley A. (bottom)
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| BR ANDVLEI
SETTING GOALS This page: Charlie E. W. (top), Luyolo A. (above), Aden T. (right) | opposite page: Vincent H. (top), Alberto R. A (bottom)
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| BR ANDVLEI
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| L E EU W KO O P
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| L E EU W KO O P
LE EUW KOOP This cycle of Leeuwkop workshops was packed with various life skills modules which aimed to impart critical personal development tools to a group of 20 vibrant and eager-to-learn participants. Over a twelve-week process, the young men were given the space to look within themselves and construct an image of their best self as they worked through the following topics: • Life maps – a powerful reflection exercise where participants map their life journeys, how they got into conflict with the law and what changes they want to make in their lives. • Effective communication – the core message in this module was to encourage participants to give up using prison and gang language in their communication and to choose language that presents them positively to others. • Managing social relationships – which involved conversations about how to develop and nurture healthy relationships with others that are built on respect and trust. • Creative and critical thinking – where participants used poetry and storytelling to express their creativity and exercise critical thinking. Article: Joseph Mofokeng & Khethiwe Cele, Facilitator: Joseph Mofokeng
Leeuwkop Correctional Centre Medium B is a one of three juvenile centres in the Gauteng province. It houses a population of approximately 300 medium-sentenced juveniles. The centre offers full educational facilities from matric level to various vocational courses right up to diploma level. YiPSA has been working in Leewkoop since November 2012 and we’ve enjoyed a fruitful partnership and working relationship with participants, caregivers and the management at the centre.
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| L E EU W KO O P
VARIOUS
LIFE MAPS
Nelson P. (top), Sipho (middle), Thuso (bottom)
This page: unknown | next pages: Mpho M. (left), Robert M. (right)
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| L E EU W KO O P
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| L E EU W KO O P
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| L E EU W KO O P
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| GOODWOOD
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| GOODWOOD
GOOD WO OD Our twelve-week programme with the participants at Goodwood Youth Centre centred around two critical personal development areas: “reflecting on past mistakes and negative choices”; and “making positive life choices for now and in the future”.
PAST MISTAKES Pictures: unknown (top), Emelio H. (bottom)
Using a combination of storytelling and drawing, participants were encouraged to think deeply about who they were before being incarcerated, the need to accept responsibility for their past choices, to reimagine themselves in a positive light and to articulate the person they want to become – both leading up to and after their release from prison. For many of them, this was an emotional process as it challenged them to confront themselves, and to have the courage to take ownership of their behaviours and choices going forward. Participants shared their negative emotions during a story-telling process that focused on self-awareness and developing a sense of self-worth. The aim was to boost their self-confidence and self-esteem as well as their understanding of how to take responsibility for their own lives. Article: Owen Butler & Khethiwe Cele, Facilitator: Owen Butler
Goodwood Centre of Excellence is situated in Cape Town. It is primarily classified as a medium correctional facility for the incarceration of male offenders only. There is a daily average offender population of approximately 990 sentenced and 1165 unsentenced offenders. The centre has a school where inmates can study towards their high school diploma, and also apply for bursaries and scholarships for tertiary studies, the latter is mostly accommodated for at the Malmesbury Correctional Centre, Western Cape. YiPSA has been rendering programmes at Goodwood Youth Centre since 2008 and enjoys a good working relationship with officials at the centre.
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| GOODWOOD
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| GOODWOOD
POSITIVE CHOICES IN FUTURE This page: J. T. (top), Jonathan H. (left) | opposite page: unknown (top), Nathan A. (bottom left), unknown (bottom right)
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| SPOKEN WORD
SPO KEN WORD Poems by Jonathan C. Pictures: Charlton (left), M. C. (right)
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Regret I never meant to hurt The people whom I love I never wanted to see them cry But now all I do is wish I could die So much regrets So much pain I always wonder if I’ll ever be the same Could I heal the pain that I’ve caused or should? I stand and take applaud.
Path Submitting to evil Is running from good Submitting to pressure Is running from faith Before we know it’s too late Burning inside trying to feel alive Path to be chosen
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| SPOKEN WORD
Where would I go? How would I know? If only time will show.
Vanished Gone so fast it breaks the air A tear so hard you will Break the stare Quicker than light Harder then steel If you wonder, yes its real Sadder than sad, as sad as can be Who am I if I am in want to be?
Time told Time is flies so fast If only we could be free Freedom is something To behold and truth is There are no secrets told.
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Appreciate pain It pushes you beyond your ability And being able to go beyond your abilities Shows that you are far better than you can imagine And you can acquire all that you want That’s why you are the best of all creatures in all creation. A person’s mind or heart is what makes him/her. Your attitude says more about you than even your words Which can’t be heard. Don’t be controlled by situations but strive to stay in control Of situations. For a nail to do its job successfully, you have to strike it several times. An individual must bear in mind that he/she is the best among the rest Only if he/she conquers the test. Your attitude says more about yourself than your words can be heard The more you know is the more you get hurt. The more you get hurt is the more you know. For a nail to do its job successfully you have to strike it several times. An individual must bear in mind that he/she is the best among the rest.
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| OUTRE ACH
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INS IDEO U T
| H OL I DAY PR O G RAM M E
OTT ERY CAMP Boys just want to have fun... In March this year, YiPSA had the privilege of hosting two amazing volunteers to lead our life skills and holiday programme for the children we work with at Ottery Youth Care and Education Centre (OYEC) – Tania Minnaar, a South African Psychology intern, and Lukas Notthoff, a German Business Administration volunteer. Together, the pair delivered a twelve-week, fun-packed programme for our OYEC boys, which used theatre and film-making, soccer and visual art to teach the boys valuable life skills.
initiative and mobilised resources to engage the boys in activities around Cape Town that they’d never engaged in before – surfing, hiking and camping. The pair also worked with the boys to transform their living space at OYEC into an oasis for the boys, planting a fruit and vegetable garden and brightening up the walls. n Ottery Youth Care and Education Centre (OYEC) is a centre that takes care of juveniles (12–18 years old) who are in need of care and protection from very harsh environments that affect their behaviour. OYEC’s mission is to be a respected institution of professional care of the highest standard, and is the only such facility in South Africa that does not lock the children up. In support of this mission, YiPSA has enjoyed a ten-year partnership with OYEC where we render various life skills and recreational programmes for the development of the boys there.
The programme culminated in a one-of-a-kind holiday programme for the boys. Tania and Lukas took their own
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Article: Lukas Notthoff & Khethiwe Cele, Pictures: Lukas Notthoff
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| ABOUT
YIP SA’S WORK Picture: Bev Meldrum
YiPSA works to support young people in conflict with the law through three intervention areas – Rehabilitation, Reintegration and Advocacy – and towards a safer South Africa for all
VOLUNTEERING AT YIPSA: We always welcome volunteers who share our vision and are interested in joining our team and helping us deepen our impact in South Africa. We accept both local and international volunteers with all kinds of interest and talents – from creative arts to leadership development, education to social media, graphic design to criminal justice. Similarly, we can accommodate interns who are looking to immerse themselves in any of our programmes, whether in Cape Town or Johannesburg. Interns spend 3–6 months working alongside our team and across our programmes.
In REHABILITATION, we use art therapy to facilitate behaviour modification and psychosocial development of incarcerated youth offenders. We offer this in five correctional facilities, child and youth-care centres and to communities in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Our REINTEGRATION programme supports released youth offenders to successfully reintegrate into mainstream society through entrepreneurial and personal development workshops. Our ADVOCACY work involves engagement with communities and policy-makers in South Africa on issues that affect the fair, humane and inclusive treatment of youth and children in conflict with the law.
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Young in Prison South Africa (YiPSA) is a registered public-benefit organisation and non-profit organisation. PBO 930031086 / 059-080-NPO InsideOut is published by Young in Prison South Africa (YiPSA) Circulation: 500 All issues of InsideOut are available as online edition on our website www.younginprison.org.za
FUNDERS YiPSA’s work is made possibly by the generous support of the following funders:
PARTNERS
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Email: info@younginprison.org.za
Young in Prison Cape Town
Young in Prison Johannesburg
www.younginprison.org.za
312 Victoria Road
406 Mansion House
Salt River
Albertina Sisulu Road
Cape Town, 7925
Johannesburg, 2000
Tel: 021-448 5275
Tel: 011- 333 1586
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