I spent two days in jail earlier this week.
I was accompanying Sister Pat Farrell in a workshop on
Alternatives to Violence in the jail in Gracias, Lempira. We started with 15
and ended with 11 on the two day workshop.
The workshop uses lots of activities to help all the
participants discover the resources they have – especially within themselves –
to deal creatively and nonviolently to conflict.
The room we use was not immune to noise and didn’t have
enough privacy, but I think it went very well.
There were a number of things that surprised me, not least
being the range of men participating -
university-educated and functionally illiterate, young and old (though most
were in the twenties and thirties), some serving sentences and others waiting for the investigation needed before they are brought to trial.
I never asked why they were there since this would be an invasion of their privacy in a place where they are continually deprived of privacy.
The participants were chosen by the two education directors in the
prison, mostly for their leadership skills. Some were clearly leaders and Pat
and I hoped they will continue with the workshops so that they can help with
ongoing workshops in the prison.
I was humbled several times by the honesty of several participants
as well as by some of the stories shared. I noted how some of them had suffered
childhood without parents or in abusive situations.
But most of all, I felt very blessed to be able to be with
them.
“I was in prison and you visited me,” states the Son of Man
in Matthew 25:36. But I felt that I was visited by Christ by being there.
Pat wants to have more in the future and has asked me to
help. I’m looking forward to this way of serving those at the margins.
1 comment:
This is a quite inspiring message for anyone suffering in jail. Your time there may have lasted for only a short time, but I’ll bet that the message resonated with a few individuals long after you had left the jail. That message will help them to become better people and to move on past the present situation that confines them.
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