24 June 2009

Having lived on the streets and accustomed to rule-free life have made street children become not only victims of criminal acts, but also quite often they become the doers. That's why in Peduli Anak Foundation, we introduce them to a well-balanced life where everybody has to follow our house rules in order to make their life in the foundation more pleasant and enjoyable. We implement rewards and punishment system so that children know what we expect of them and understand the consequences of their misbehaviors. However, this is not enough. Once they graduate from our foundation, they have to deal with the society and live by the rules there. This is what encouraged us to do prison visit for our teenage boys.

Last week, we took 10 of our teenage boys to a correctional facility (LP Mataram) in Mataram city. All of the boys have done wrongdoings at some point in their life. We wanted to give them a lesson that this prison would be their next stop if they repeated their misbehaviors. At LP Mataram, we were welcomed by the head of the prison, Mr. Purwadi. He briefly explained about the facility and why people are sent there.

Sadly, there were also young prisoners (under 18) in the premise. With more than 500 inmates compared to the building capacity of 350, children and adults easily interact one another during certain hours although these young inmates have their own separated block. We think this arrangement is not appropriate for children. The government should build a juvenile facility for these young offenders.

At LP Mataram, the children have almost no access to education. Obviously, they cannot go to school anymore, but the prison should have provided tutors or home schooling program. At the moment, they only have one volunteer from Australia to teach them English. Peduli Anak Foundation is considering to send our tutors to teach them some life skills such as carpentry, engineering or even music. While we were there, we also invited the young inmates to visit our foundation once they're released so that they can attend our classes or extracurricular activities. It's not too late for them to go back to the right path and to have a better future.

So, what did our children think of this prison visit? Jayadi (15) said it was an eye-opening experience. He felt sorry for people who had to spend their life behind bars. He admitted to me that after returning from the visit, he cried for having witnessed such terrible circumstances. He promised to himself to be a better boy and not to do things that may hurt or harm other people.

For me, it was my first time visiting a prison. I must admit I was a bit terrified. Being the only woman there with hundreds of crooks around me was not my idea of fun. However, there was something mystical about this prison, the air inside was so different. A friend of mine told me that I might pick up the energy of what it was like to be imprisoned. It was indescribable, captivating yet suffocating at the same time. When I stepped outside the prison, I felt like I was breathing the freshest air despite the fact that the prison is located by a busy street. I simply cannot imagine living behind bars, one inmate told us how he missed watching people driving motorcycles on the streets. He hadn't seen it for 7 years. I guess this visit has made me appreciate freedom and things I usually take for granted. I hope our children learn something from this visit like Jayadi and I do.

Martina N.

Peduli Anak Foundation