Prison inmates urged to participate in programmes

Speaking at the launch of Vision on Mission’s 2017 Preparation for Release Programme at the Youth Training Centre, Arouca, Stewart said the programmes within the prison were meant to renew and change the mind.

“Without programmes, there is no change in behaviour, there is no transformation.

“Our purpose here is to prepare you for reintegration into society as productive law abiding citizens, valuing not only yourself but other citizens,” he said.

Stewart said correctional programmes are about the inmates and their development.

“Programmes help you to think before you act, it helps you to understand your responsibility as a citizen of Trinidad and Tobago,” he said. Speaking about Vision on Mission’s pre-release programme, Stewart said the programme was meant to inspire those inmates who were about to be released into society. “These programmes are supposed to inspire you, motivate you to deviate from the ways that would have caused you to be here in the first place, and to make our neighbourhoods and society safer because the seed would have been sown. If you believe in that seed and you put it into action then surely you can put a full stop on prison life because you have the ability. Perseverance never failed.” He said he has served in the prison for 39 years and seven months and he has seen miracles worked within the prison environment.

“That is why the work that Wayne Chance and the Vision on Mission are doing is so important,” he said.

National Security Minister Edmund Dillon yesterday urged the inmates to soak in everything that they learn while in the programme so they can live a productive life after leaving the prison.

He said every one has the power of choice and for those who made the choice to be incarcerated, they should put that behind them.

“Let’s focus on the future, the fact that you have entered into the programme is a positive choice.

The fact that you are here today is a positive choice, but choices by themselves wouldn’t make it happen.

After you make the choice, you must be able to continue the journey. To do so you must begin with the end in mind. What do you want to be, what do you want to achieve. After you have left the prison walls, set your goals from now, make the choices that allow you to make those goals. One of those goals is ‘I will not return to these walls whatsoever’ and therefore that will condition your behaviour,” he said.