ANNUAL REPORT 2011 / 2012
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Contents
Message from the Chairperson ............................................4 Board Members 2011 / 2012 ................................................6 Directors Overview ..............................................................8 Young In Prison Activity in 2011 ...........................................10 1. Integration Programme ....................................................10 2. Community Awareness and Advocacy .............................16 3. Partnership and Networks ...............................................19 4. Organisational Capacity Building .....................................20 5. Staff Members .................................................................20 6. Funders ...........................................................................22 7. Finances ..........................................................................23
Young in Prison Annual Report 2011/12
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Annual Report 2011
Mission Young in Prison fights for a safer South Africa by imparting life skills using arts and sports to youth at risk, empowering them to change behaviour to participate positively in society.
YiPSA has developed interventions, which address each of the above objectives, and address goals at three levels:
The Individual
Vision To ensure that even within a harsh prison environment, children and youth are given the opportunity to become constructive, active and positive citizens for a safer South Africa.
The primary focus is on the individual: him/ herself, essentially changing behaviour, habits and perspective. Participants are encouraged to reconcile emotional conflicts as well as promoting self-awareness and personal growth using creative arts and sport. The aim is to create empowered leaders that will effect positive changes not only in their lives but in the lives of others.
Goals The Community Main goals and strategy of YiP and the levels at which YiP works YiPSA’s main goals are: a) To develop and implement high quality and effective programming for youth in conflict with the law, both inside detention centers and after release, in order to facilitate creativity, self-development and overall successful reintegration.
b) To strive for necessary and sustainable change by advocacy government and educating surrounding communities to address stigma and over-incarceration.
c) To develop structures that enable youth in conflict with the law to communicate with their policy makers.
The focus is on the community in which the individual is to return back to after their time in the institution is over. If the community setup, including victims, family, friends and community at large is not prepared, then there will be a breakdown in the transition from incaceration to reintegrating back into society. YiP aims to engage and empower through various projects various stakeholders in the community in order to facilitate proper reintegration of young people and reducing recidivism rates.
The Government There are internal and external factors within this environment, such as attitudes of officials, other inmates, and policies and laws governing the institution, wherein our participants live their everyday lives and can affect the rehabilitation process. Changing the environment both physically
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and metaphysically to one in which creativity and individual growth can thrive is essential to the process. Dialogue should be open between the incarcerated individual, administrators in his environment and the community at large, but currently is stied by the nature of incarceration and the complete disempowerment that accompanies institutionalization. Young in Prison aims to create a platform where youth can participate and help make institutional changes to ďŹ ght social ills.
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Young in Prison Annual Report 2011/12
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Message from the Chairperson While our Constitution entrenches the right to dignity, it remains in many regards an elusive and hard to define right in practical terms. What we can be certain of is that imprisonment results inevitably in an incursion into the right to dignity. This is even more so the case when prisons are overcrowded, poorly managed and opaque to outsiders. Since 1994 South Africa’s prison system has exhibited a broad range of persistent problems that are indeed an affront to the dignity of the people detained there.
of everyone not to be devalued as a human being or treated in a degrading or humiliating manner. It is this approach that needs to permeate our prison system and other places where children and young people are deprived of their liberty. YIPSA, through its various interventions, works towards restoring children and young people’s dignity by recognising them as individuals with creative potential, to give them hope and guide them to create a future that looks different from their past.
Former Chief Justice Arthur Chaskalson
In the report that follows it will be clear
explained that in a broad and general sense, respect for human dignity implies respect for the autonomy of each person, and the right
that YIPSA was not spared the financial pressures affecting the non-governmental sector in recent years and that indeed drastic
“
respect for human dignity implies autonomy of each person...
respect
for the
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measures were implemented to ensure that the organization remains afloat. This paid off and funding for 2012-13 was secured from the European Union. This would not have been possible without the commitment and willingness of YIPSA staff and volunteers to place the clients of the organisations ahead of themselves. The Board of YIPSA is deeply grateful for this.
resolved and I assumed the position as chairperson of the Board in March 2012. With the Board stabilised and the organisation in a vastly improved financial situation, I look forward to next year to and see the organisation grow and expand its services.
“commitment
This would not have been possible without the and willingness of YIPSA staff and volunteers The activities reported on below are indeed impressive, especially given the context the organisation was operating in. At Pollsmoor prison and Bonnytoun and Ottery Child and Youth Care Centres hundreds of workshops were facilitated involving large numbers of children and young people. Art sessions, sports events, theatre productions, pre-release groups and postrelease support services attest to the energy and resourcefulness of the YIPSA staff and volunteers. In their interactions with these children and young people, they know that they are making a difference and restoring the dignity, self-respect and hope for the future of the participants.
Lukas Muntingh YiPSA Chairperson
“making
They know that they are
a
difference and restoring the dignity, self-respect and hope for the future of the participants
During 2011 the membership of the Board of YIPSA experienced a high turnover which resulted in instability. This has now been Young in Prison Annual Report 2011/12
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Board Members 2011/12 Young in Prison South Africa has a board which functions as an advisory and oversight body. The board members represent a diverse group of people with skills, knowledge and dedication for the advancement of Young in Prison’s vision of building a safer South Africa through the empowerment of youth at risk
Treasurer
Jeffrey Katz is the owner of Ticktin Timbers in Woodstock and has volunteered for Young in Prison and served on its board as the Treasurer since 2007.
Chairperson
Lukas Muntingh is co-founder and Project Coordinator of CSPRI at the Community Law Centre (CLC) of the University of Western Cape (UWC). He holds a Masters Degree (Sociology) from Stellenbosch University. He has been involved in criminal justice reform since 1992 and was Deputy Executive Director of Nicro prior to joining CSPRI fulltime. He has worked in Southern Africa and Central Asia on child justice, prisoners’ rights, preventing corruption in the prison system, the prevention and combating of torture, and monitoring legislative compliance. He has published extensively and presented at several conferences. His current focus is on the prevention and combating of torture and ill treatment of prisoners and detainees.
Finance Committee Member
Isabbel Cooper is the Financial Administrator for The Children’s Institute and Child Health Unit. She has worked for the University of Cape Town (UCT) since 1994 and joined the Institute in 2001. She is currently doing a post-graduate two year part-time Advanced Certificate Course in Adult Education at UCT. She is also involved in a Quaker initiative called Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP) as a volunteer facilitator.
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Secretary
Alphonse Niyodusenga obtained a Bachelor Degree in Business Administration in 2002 from Solusi University, Zimbabwe and a Master’s Degree in Peace and Governance in 2005 from Africa University, Zimbabwe. He joined the Institute for Healing of Memories (IHOM) in August 2005 and he has been involved in various projects as researcher, manager, fundraiser, trainer, organizer and facilitator. From January 2011, he is working as Deputy Director of the IHOM. Alphonse was also involved in community conversations across South Africa with the Nelson Mandela Foundation between 2008 and 2010. Prior to his work at IHOM, he worked for Care Australia in the Democratic Republic of Congo, managing relief projects with the Claremont Seventh Day Adventist Church (Cape Town) and an associate of the Creative Consulting and Development Works in Cape Town.
work), Honors Degree (University of DurbanWestville, now UKZN); National Higher Diploma in Human Resources Management (UNISA); and a Masters in Social Science in Criminology (UCT).
Member Pearl Nel is in the employ of First National Bank (FNB) for 12 years. She manages the Provincial Chair Marketing, Events and Volunteers programme for FNB Western Cape. She is obsessively passionate about making a difference in the lives of others. “Do what I love – and love what I do.”
Member Venessa Padayachee is currently employed by NICRO in South Africa, as Advocacy and Lobby Manager with a focus on research and programme Design. She has been with NICRO for over 15 years. She holds a BA (Social
Young in Prison Annual Report 2011/12
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Director’s Overview The economic climate is forcing many NPOs to closedown and stop providing essential services to the public. In 2011, Young in Prison faced a similar situation and it was a make or break year forcing us to be strategic and innovative in the manner in which we operate and approach funders. I am very proud to say that we survived the worst and reached the year 2012 having raised funds for the next two years, for this we are grateful. The challenge is to maintain this momentum. As I reflect on the past year, the main question one may ask is “how did we survive”.
Firstly, YiPSA survived because of the people within the organisation. I want to salute the staff of YiPSA who took salary cuts and continued to give 110%. They executed the projects on the same scale as we did before we had a budget cut and excelled. I am grateful to our partners who continued to assist us with volunteers so that we keep meeting the demands placed on the organisation. The success we have had could not have been achieved if YiPSA did not have the people it has.
Secondly, YiPSA survived because of the experience and reputation we have accumulated over the past ten years. As we approached the end of a decade, we evaluated where the organisation had come from and all the milestones we had reached. We realized that we had developed many best practices. We decided to utilize our
expertise to create an innovative and holistic programme based on our experience over the past ten years. This strategy gave birth to the Siyakhana-Building Each Other programme. Through this programme YiPSA focused on the rehabilitation of the individual offender by using elements of youth participation and dialogues with communities and authorities. This innovative approach to rehabilitation and reducing reoffending gained favour with the Open Society Foundation for South Africa and ultimately with the European Union. YiPSA survived the threat of closing its doors and managed to secure funding for the next two years (2012-13) with the assistance of its partner Young in Prison Netherlands. The challenge now is to ensure that we develop innovative strategies to sustain the organisation beyond the funding period of the EU action.
Despite the survival mode we operated under, YiPSA managed to reach and excel on its planned goals. A total of 397 youths were taught life-skills over 472 workshops throughout the year. The Inside Out Issue 5 was a success and the quality of the content as well as the design improves each year. We recognize and appreciate Conor Ralphs and Meghan Judge for their assistance. YiPSA conducted group-coaching sessions for young offenders who were about to be released. These were very helpful in assisting them to have concrete plans after they leave the institutions. We also focused on an intensive coaching program for very small
“I am very proud to say that we survived the worst
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“YiPSA is growing and will continue to grow groups throughout the year to ensure that those we assist are properly reintegrated. A total of 176 workshops were conducted for a group of 79 participants and 42 of them successfully reintegrated and contributing positively to society. The other 37 participants were either not released in the year 2011 due to further charges or did not contact the organization after their release. YiPSA also was featured greatly in the media and received vast recognition through nominations and listings in the Mail and Guardian 200 young South Africans, Book of Women and Shoprite Checkers Women of the Year 2011 in the “Good Neighbours against Crime” category.
YiPSA is growing and will continue to grow if we continue to strive to work harder and ensure that we are transparent and empower our participants to be positive, active and contributing members of our society.
I want express my gratitude to the Open Society Foundation for South Africa for funding the Siyakhana: Building Each Other project as their innovative thinking has led the organisation to reach new heights. I am thankful to our partners mentioned in this report who make it possible for us to continue to provide a quality service to many vulnerable youths and enable us to empower communities. I am finally very grateful to our board members for the support that they have given to YiPSA and the vast amount of expertise that they give to the organisation so selflessly.
The funding from EU for 2012-3 will enable the organisation to strengthen capacity in the following manner: Employment creation: nvesting substantial time in training the youth inside and outside prisons, and finding suitable employment with companies and businesses working in the arts industry; Expansion: During 2012-13, YiPSA plans to expand and strengthen as a Provincial organization in the Western Cape, thus expanding to two other juvenile prisons in the province and in Gauteng. Advocacy: Training the Siyakhana Ambassadors to have a voice and dialogue with senior government officials, parliamentarians and other policy makers. Capacity building: Activities that aim to strengthen the capacity of YiPSA and its local partners.
Tarisai Mchuchu-Ratshidi Director, Young in Prison South Africa
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1.1 Inside Out: Magazine Project
Young in Prison’s Activities in 2011 1. Reintegration Programme
This is a holistic programme which seeks to prepare and aid young offenders in making the transition from incarceration to society through imparting life skills (using the arts as the primary tool) and offering mentorship, and for those very same youth to eventually become youth leaders themselves. The main objectives of this programme are: • To ensure that programme participants are equipped with life skills and coping mechanisms that will enable them to reintegrate successfully after release. • To cultivate skills in our participants in the arts, sports, literacy, debate and leadership. • To ensure that through education and employment, our participants become positively contributing members of society. • To reduce the recidivism rate of our programme participants. • To create youth leaders through imparting to programme participants leadership skills and placing them in positions of responsibility.
Children and youth in conflict with the law are introduced to life skills and self-development through the arts. Through creative writing, poetry, dance, music and theatre youth in prison explore topics of relevance to them such as identity, family, violence and gender. Program participants solidify an understanding of who they are, exercise literacy skills, gain life skills and coping mechanisms, and develop accountability relationships in the context of the prison. At the end of a project cycle, the material developed in the workshops is compiled into a magazine, which is professionally produced and published. This magazine serves multiple purposes: it gives program participants a concrete sense of accomplishment; it allows a platform for the voice of the youth to be heard by their families; communities and the nation at large, and as such it is a tool through which we can raise awareness about child justice and the issues youth in prison struggle with. Due to financial constraints only one issue of Inside Out was published in 2011. Nonetheless the results presented were impressive and the participants in the program were still able to show the lessons learnt during the workshops. The magazine provides a platform for participants to reflect on past decisions, family life, friends and community influences, even on who they choose to be today and the changes that need to take place in order to be better family, community and society members. The art work in the magazine does not only present colourful artistic work,
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and words highlighting matters of identity, freedom, fear, conflict, dreams, desires to love and to be loved, security and change. It has been through the art work that young offenders and ex-offenders have been given not only a human face but also a human voice who, like many people, deserves a second chance to be agents for positive change. The outcome of the magazine was also presented as a play in Pollsmoor Medium A in November 2011, attended by over 30 people from various government departments, family members and representatives of donor organisations. A full copy of Inside Out, Issue 5 can be accessed at http://issuu.com/younginprison/docs/ insideout2011.
1.2 Theatre Storm
Awaiting trial detainees remain a persistent problem for the criminal justice and correctional system. We have many young men and women who await trial for long periods and do not receive any support from the state. NPOs also find it difficult to work with them as we often cannot track the successes of programmes due to the transient nature of their custody. YiPSA, in response to this issue, designed a short intensive project that allows young people to also benefit from our lifeskills program using arts titled ‘Storm’. This is a 12-day, three hours a day intervention, that tackles topics of relationships, identity, peer-pressure, emotions and behavior using various forms of theatre and performance.
In 2011, YiPSA had two theatre productions. The first storm was a Shakespeare storm conducted in partnership with the Independent Theatre Movement of South Africa (ITMSA) at the Ottery Youth-Care and Education Center. The participants were taught life skills and also basic techniques of script writing and public speaking. This culminated in a performance on the final day where 18 family members and members from the Departments of Education and Correctional Services attending the event in July 2011. The second storm was done in partnership with Phakama-Drama project. The process for this project focused on each young person’s journey to Ottery Youth Centre. They reviewed decisions they had made, as well as recognizing that there were also things that were outside their of control, but appreciating them in their lives. They each created a figurative map of their journey to Ottery Youth Centre. Drawing each place or incident that lead to the next, it was a virtual representation of the things that brought them in conflict with the law. These maps were used in various ways to create short performances. The participants Young in Prison Annual Report 2011/12
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reinterpreted the journeys into movement and sound, imagining that they were walking through their maps, showing how they felt at each stage and also letting go of negativity and embracing change.
1.3 Youth4YiP: Voluntary Projects Youth4YiP is a project that connects young people and other community members with youth in conflict with the law. It is an opportunity for them to offer support through constructive engagements such as sports and music. It also supplements the education opportunities available to them through tutoring and high quality literacy training. Youth4YiP is about building bridges and allowing people to interact. It is about exposing youth at risk to other young people with the same stories as theirs who have made positive choices and allowing them to understand that they also can make changes and contribute positively to society. Volunteers are simultaneously exposed to the issue of young people in prison, and are able to advocate through word-of-mouth and student action. The Youth4YiP projects are run in Bonnytoun House of Safety, as well as Pollsmoor Prison, Medium A and Female Section, and Ottery Centre. Project examples include: soccer, karate, Thai boxing, games, literacy, tutoring and the gardening project. In 2011, our partners from The Council on International Education Exchange (CIEE), Stanford Education Exchange Program and Connect 123 continued to support us by
providing access to talented young people from diverse backgrounds. We are also fortunate to have access to various public institutions where we are able to recruit local volunteers. Through these various relationships, 105 volunteers throughout the year supported Youth4YiP. Their services to our organisation and target group are invaluable and we are grateful for their dedication and open hearts.
Sports, such as soccer and cricket, continued to provided an important outlet for the release of pent-up frustration and emotions. Sport serves as an important tool to acquire communication and team building skills. The gardening project involved more than 15 student volunteers from the University of Cape Town. The volunteers were allocated a plot of land within the Ottery School premises to plant vegetables, flowers and fruits. The boys cleared the plot and planted flowers, vegetables and fruits. The children were then given the responsibility to look after the garden. They received horticultural training on how to take care of their gardens, In January 2012; they harvested chillies, spinach and strawberries. Literacy and numeracy projects were run supported by life-skills workshops on HIV and sexuality.
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Inside Out
Inside Out
Pollsmoor Medium A, Institutions Implemented In &ĞŵĂůĞ ^ĞĐƟŽŶ
Theatre Storm
Youth4YiP
Total in 2011
Ottery Youth-Care and Education Centre
Pollsmoor, Ottery and Bonnytoun House of Safety 3 Institutions
Number of Workshops
230
24
218
472
Number of Participants
130
32
235
397
1.4 Post-Release Support and Mentorship
Every sentenced offender should be rehabilitated and placed on a sentence plan to ensure that upon release he/she will be ready for reintegration. Many young offenders are sentenced in terms of section 276(1)(i) of the Criminal Procedure Act, which means that they are required to serve one-sixth of their sentences in prison and the balance under correctional supervision. This time period almost invariably amounts to less than 24 months, thus excluding them from a sentence plan. The result is that most child and juvenile offenders merely sit out the custodial part of the sentence and wait for their parole date to arrive. This inconsistency between the correctional system’s ostensible commitment to the effective rehabilitation and reintegration of all offenders and the fact that they do not effectively implement policies results in the system failing these young people. YiPSA aims to lessen the effects of “institutionalization” on young offenders through its post-release project.
“effects
YiPSA aims to lessen the of ‘institutionalisation’ on young offenders ...
Alongside the life-skills activities inside the institutions, all participants of the project during the last six months of their sentences are offered post-release focus groups. The Post-Release Coordinator, who is a counsellor by profession, develops a relationship with them, and aid them to understand what to expect upon release. The purpose of this project is to prepare participants mentally for release and set goals to be achieved during their reintegration process. Upon release, participants visit the office for an individualized Post-Release Plan (PRP). Through networking and individual attention, the social workers and Counsellors aid participants in securing employment, training, education, extracurricular activities and community service opportunities. In the pre-release sessions, the Post-Release Coordinaor and a facilitator ran “personal development” workshops in Pollsmoor (Medium A) throughout the year. The workshops are designed to mentally prepare participants for release by coaching them to think and prepare how they will live positively when they leave prison. The focus is on goalsetting and how to achieve these set goals. Young in Prison Annual Report 2011/12
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Family interventions form a big part of the work as permenent support structures need to be in place for successful reintegration.
•
Basic Computer Training
•
Writing or compiling a CV
• Financial Management (incl. bank account and tax registration) •
Application of ID documents
• Job searching, education, volunteering and training •
Literacy
• Life-skills (HIV/AIDS, relationships, anger management, goal-setting).
The post-release methodology is partcipatory because the individual has to make the choice to live and contribute positively to society. While incarcerated, YiPSA staff and volunteers visit the institutions to facilitate various workshops, the individual participant must make the first phone call to our organisation and inform us that he is now at home and would like to continue with the program. This manner of working, places the power in their own hands and they are able to take ownerhip of how the program shapes their lives after release. In 2011, we focussed on independentliving skills in assisting them to become self-sufficient and to make a living through legitimate means. This was done through various courses such as:
Highlights in Post-Release 2011
Employment • Two participants out of five interviewed participants found permanent employment at SA Metals and Skysite • Two out of three referred participants found temporary work at a factory • One participant is a part-time waitress at two restaurants • One participant is now permanently employed in Epping at a warehouse.
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Positive Activities
• Two participants are working/training for a magazine called Live SA. This free magazine started in the UK and has now been launched in SA. Young people for young people write it. One participant did an illustrated story for the first issue and the other contributed an article about bullying in schools. They are both currently working on the second issue of Live SA. • Three participants were accepted into the City Mission housing and training program, in which they will be accommodated into their half-way house for nine months while receiving training.
Post-Release Camp
In the Cederberg area YIPSA (2011) held a three-day post release camp with a group of 12 participants. The camp had a variety of activities such as sports, games, hiking and swimming. Through these activities the participants experienced a group feeling and to be open towards new discoveries. The camp also focused on personal and organisational evaluation by sharing thoughts and reflecting on the past year. The camp was a success, which definitely had to do with a flexible mindset of the facilitators and participants.
• Three participants were referred to the Salesians of Don Bosco training program. • Three visually impaired participants were referred to the Cape Society for the Blind for further education and training • Three participants were referred to the Realistic program in Gugulethu.
“
Through these activities the participants experienced a group feeling and to be open towards new discoveries Young in Prison Annual Report 2011/12
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Male/Female
Post-Release 2011
Total
Number of Workshops
176
70
246
Number of Participants
79
42
121
The ďŹ gures in Table 2 show the manner in which the post-release focus groups are conducted. YiPSA conducts intensive focus groups over a long period of time with few groups of participants at a time to ensure that optimal results are achieved.
2. Community Awareness and Advocacy
Successful reintegration involves not only the children and youth being prepared for release, but also the community. Societal support from families and community members, educational institutions, churches, employers is crucial for re-integration. Stigma levels remain high and continuously need to be addressed in order to reduce reoffending. In this regard, YiPSA invests heavily in recording positive stories from participants and presenting incarcerated children and youth in a positive light. This is done largely through our magazine Inside Out, in various schools, art exhibitions and social dialogues in communities.
2.1 Community Awareness through presentations
The work in schools continued with the distribution and discussions on the magazine, Inside Out. A total of 4500 participants attended (1500 planned) from Hazeldene, Manenburg, Salt River High schools (12 in
total), the Salesians of Don Bosco. In addition, four government departments and six private companies were approached and participated in workshops and dialogues held concerning the work of YiPSA. A YiP documentary, Safe Side Film about a young woman’s journey of reintegration, made in 2010 was show-cased at the Observatory Documentary Film Festival in Observatory, Cape Town.
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2.2 Community Awareness through media and recognition
Nominations
Magazines •
The Big Issue: January 2011 Issue
•
Soul Magazine: November 2011 Issue
• Mail and Guardian: 200 Young South Africans (Civil Society): h t t p : / / y s a 2 0 1 1 . m g . c o. z a / c a t e g o r y. php?youngid=64&categoryid=3
• Vrouekeur Magazine: November 2011 Issue
• Shoprite Checkers Women of the Year 2011: Finalist in the Good Neighbours against crime http://www.womenoftheyear.co.za/ Pages/79568134/2011/Finalists/MrsTarisai-Mchuchu-Ratshidi.asp
• Women Inc http://www.womeninc. co.za/Personal-Stories/inspirationalwomen-tarisai-mchuchu-ratshidi-part-1. html
•
Clicks Magazine: November 2011 Issue
Radio • Mail and Guardian: Book of Women 2011: http://bow2011.mg.co. za/profile/tarisai-mchuchu-ratshidi/, h t t p : / / w w w. m e d i a c l u b s o u t h a f r i c a . com/index.php?option=com_ content&view=article&id=2524:sa-women &catid=49:medianews&Itemid=113
• Metro FM, Women of the Year on bein a good neighbour against crime • Bush Radio: Women in Prison on the breakfast show •
Voice of the Cape
Publications
Newspapers •
Cape Argus published on 25 Sept 2011
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This media coverage also led to an increase in the number of enquiries and requests to work in other prisons in South Africa. The Director was also invited to present at the annual Talking Heads event hosted by the Africa Centre on “Youth participation in rehabilitative work”.
2.3 Community Awareness through Youth Participation and Empowerment
After years of working in the juvenile justice system, YiPSA came to recognise the need for greater youth involvement and participation. We realised that in order for the participants of our programmes to get the best from the services we offer, it is critical that they do not become passive recipients of development initiatives but are rather empowered through such a programme. Therefore YiPSA created a platform in which both youth offenders and ex-offenders have the opportunity to become the voice of change and influence on matters that affect and impact on their rehabilitation and reintegration. These are employment, skills development, education, recidivism and integration.
“recipients
This innovative project was called SiyakhanaBuilding Each Other in which YiPSA aims to assist and prepare youth offenders and exoffenders to develop the skills and capacity to advocate for issues that are critical to their development. The enhancement of such skills allow for the facilitation of open dialogue to develop between the youth (offenders and exoffenders), administrators and the community at large in order to create awareness about issues impacting on child justice. In addition, the project aims to achieve this through providing a dialogue platform and environment in which these young people are able to enhance their leadership skills (e.g. debating, public speaking, literacy, advocacy, etc.) through various workshop settings that make use of creative arts as a methodological tool.
...it is critical that they do not become passive of development initiatives but are rather empowered through such a programme.
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4. Partnerships and Networks 4.1 Partnerships • Independent Theatre Movement of South Africa (ITMSA)- The ITMSA has partnered with YiPSA since 2009 in execution of the Shakespeare Theatre storm in the youth-care centers. • Project Phakama- Through funding by Mikhael Subotzky, a renowned photographer who is known for his photographs taken inside of Pollsmoor Maximum, Project Phakama brought a successful arts project to our participants in Medium A. YiPSA continues to have a successful partnership in executing urban theatre workshops in awaiting trial centers. • Council for International Educational Exchange (CIEE)- CIEE continues to support us with a multitude of volunteers and service-learners that support our Youth4YiP project. • Connect 1-2-3- organizes internships and study abroad projects for international students. In 2011 they connected YiPSA with interns that supported the postrelease project and teaching participants on healthy life-styles. • Stanford University organizes internships and study abroad projects for international students. In 2011, they provided three interns to support the sports projects at Ottery Youth-Care and Education Centre.
• Department of Correctional ServicesWe are very grateful for the partnership we have had with DCS over the past ten years. Their continued support in the work we do is deeply valued and we look forward to the next ten years of rendering rehabilitation services to young offenders. • Department of Education- We are grateful for the valued support we receive from our partnership in rendering service to the Ottery Youth-Care and Education Centre. • Department of Social DevelopmentWe are very grateful for the valued support we get from our partnership in rendering service to the Bonnytoun Child and YouthCare Centre.
4.2 Networks
• Steps Towards Addressing Recidivism Trends (Start SA): is an initiative to start an employment agency that links former offenders to various companies for job placement • LINC: Leadership and Innovation Network for Collaboration in the Children’s Sector is a network for leaders in the children’s sector that provides a platform for collaboration and mentorship. • Network on Reducing Reoffending: is a network aimed at bringing together Young in Prison Annual Report 2011/12
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practitioners and academics in the criminal justice system. It facilitates dialogue, research and provide information about what services exist in the quest to reduce re-offending. The network website is at www.nrr.org.za • Western Cape Youth Forum: A forum that brings organisations in the Western Cape together to network and share ideas on how to maximize assistance to youth at risk in the Western Cape.
5.
Organisational Capacity Building
Staff Training Project Management: held in Johannesburg and sponsored by OSF-SA Facilitation Training: This two-day training workshops to equip all volunteers with the necessary skills to facilitate a workshop in the centres we work. Financial Management: The Director attended a financial management. Fundraising: The Director attended a oneday fundraising training seminar hosted in Netherlands on “approaching the EU as a donor”. Exchange in Malawi YiPSA facilitators participated in Lilongwe in an exchange of best practices with the Malawi staff at Music Crossroads. They had in Malawi the opportunity to run workshops
in the youth prisons there and also train the Malawi facilitators on how to teach lifeskills using creative arts. Extremely positive feedback was received. External Evaluation In 2011, YiP (International) commissioned an external evaluation of its work in South Africa, Colombia and Malawi, using the appreciative inquiry methodology. The results of this will be published in the first quarter of 2012. 2012 Partner-meeting in Netherlands The YiP SA Director participated in the annual partner meeting in the Netherlands in September 2011. This was an opportunity to exchange experiences and strategies between the programmes in Malawi, Columbia and South Africa. It was also an opportunity for training monitoring and evalaution.
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6. Staff Members Tarisai Mchuchu-Ratshidi Director
Kholofelo Mashego Advocacy and Communications Vuyokazi Magobiyane
Life-Skills Facilitator Melinda Bechus Post-Release Coordinator
Owen Butler Life-Skills Facilitator Nkosinathi Buyana Voluntary Projects Coordinator
Welcoming Rozerie Bosma General Manager
Young in Prison Annual Report 2011/12
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Volunteers
With gratitude to
YiPSA has thrived and will continue to thrive because there are individuals who are willing to give of their time and efforts with very little or no reward at all. We are very grateful to these individuals. I salute the following individuals amongst mane for their individual support made a difference
Eureko Achmea Impulsis Young in Prison Netherlands Open Society Foundation for South Africa We also add a special thank you to Shameera Zaid Wazar for her contribution through SA MOTI.
Andries Ratsedi Ben Scott Vuyokazi Magobiyane Kholofelo Mashego Laura Garrett Perpetua Muchuchu Rozerie Bosma Kiran Shriemisier
7. Funders YiPSA would not be able to function in any manner without organisations that believe in its vision and mission enough to donate funds. We are very grateful for their support especially in these global ďŹ scal troubles. We look forward to continuing our partnership with all our funders and donors.
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8. Finances
Young in Prison Annual Report 2011/12
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7. Finances
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Young in Prison Annual Report 2011/12
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Director’s Letter : Insideout Magazine issue 5
Young in Prison: Workshop Methodology Young in Prison’s vision is to ensure that even within a harsh prison environment, children and youth are given the opportunity to become responsible, productive and participating citizens of our country. YiP believes that self-development and self esteem make up the essential foundation from which positive life choices must be based, and it is YiP’s belief that arts and creativity are the ideal way in which to pursue that goal.
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Director’s Letter : Insideout Magazine issue 5
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Donate Any donations, no matter how big or small, will be put to good use and help us continue to do our work. Below are our banking details should you wish to make an electronic payment or bank transfer. Please provide your name as a reference if you so wish.
Account Name: Young in Prison Account Number: 1021284556 Bank: Nedbank Branch: 296 Victoria Road, PO Box 1034, Woodstock, 7925 SWIFT: NEDSZAJJ