(ANS - Honiara)- "I am living Life" and "Peace", were the topics at a meeting held in two sessions on 16 and 17 July at the Rove Correctional Institute in Honiara, Solomon Islands. The meeting was organized by Regina Lepping, Head of Communications in Youth @ Work and Fr Ambrose Pereira SDB, and attended by the young inmates of the juvenile section.

At the beginning of the meeting the young people were scared, shy and closed, but they did participate in the course. Theft, alcohol, drugs, and violence were identified as some of the problems of today's world, with alcoholism adding to the causes and the effects in society. The following morning the participants were invited to express themselves through the medium of posters on the themes "I am living Life" and "Peace".

The inmates of the juvenile section thanked the leaders for the time spent with them. "I was glad to meet the young people in the Rove Correctional Institute and to help them express their thoughts and concerns," said Regina Lepping. One of the prison guards, Allison Salu, said "It would be interesting if the young people had space in the journal YOSI to express their views." George Kadau Oge, a teacher in the Don Bosco training school who runs weekly courses for welders at the prison, said "prison is not a nice place for anyone."

Fr Ambrose Pereira SDB, said that the experience of celebrating the Eucharist on Sundays 12 and 19 July was very uplifting and led to a better relationship between young offenders and animators. The project in the Rove Correctional Institute in Honiara was made possible by the help of representatives of the Correctional Service, George Walahoula and David.

The young detainees in the Rove Correctional Institute were invited to attend courses at the Don Bosco Institute and Youth @ Work, when they finish their period of detention.

Published 29/07/2015