Port of Call LAST UPDATE February 24, 2010
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January 27, 2010 Cape Town – Bringing normalcy to the prisoners of Pollsmoor
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Julian Thomas has seen some of South Africa’s worst offenders become decent and civil human beings.
Imagine looking into a murderer’s eyes and thinking it is possible to turn him into a sensible, caring individual. Julian Thomas has been doing just that for almost 10 years. Each time he walks into the dim, brick buildings of Pollsmoor Prison – in Cape Town, South Africa – he’s certain the men he works with are trying to make a positive change in their lives.

“Change is possible and change begins with me. That’s the theme of this series of workshops and most of the work that we do with inmates,” he says.

Mr Thomas, who was onboard the 68th Global Voyage as a guest educator between the ports of Mombasa and Cape Town, conducts non-violent conflict resolution workshops at the prison. This training forms a part of his work with the Center for Conflict Resolution (CCR). Mr Thomas' wife Johanna started the programme in 1999 after prison administration requested CCR’s assistance in cutting down violence and gang activity inside Pollsmoor: He joined her two years later and they have extended their work to other prisons in the region.
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Former President Nelson Mandela spent six years of his sentence at Pollsmoor. Peace Boat’s visit to Cape Town was shortly before the 20th anniversary of his release.

The sessions at the prison, Mr Thomas explains, are meant to encourage inmates to consider alternative actions when tense circumstances arise. It’s up to the individual to choose between making a confrontation into a conflict or an opportunity. The men at Pollsmoor make what seems like an impossible transition from being some of the most violent criminals in the country to being able to resolve differences responsibly.

Overcoming the conditions within the facility is a major part of this process. Pollsmoor is crammed full with inmates, to the point that 50-60 men sleep in chambers built to hold 20. Rival gangs – known as the 26s, 27s, and 28s – control the cells and commit crimes against one another. Ringleaders make it almost impossible for a new arrival at Pollsmoor not to belong, because having no gang status puts one at risk of being robbed, raped or murdered.

“The prison environment is a very abnormal environment and the people there do crazy things you wouldn’t expect a normal person to do. So, we try to normalize things.”

According to Mr Thomas, once a prisoner begins the training, he often asks to be moved to another part of the prison so he can complete his rehabilitation without being drawn back into the violence. It’s up to the men themselves to make the process successful. In South Africa, the majority of convicted criminals – eight out of every ten – wind up breaking the law after release because they know no other life than what they’ve lived in the penitentiary. But, Mr Thomas says he’s yet to hear of a single man he’s worked with going back into the prison system.
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Prison staff almost prevented the Peace Boat exchange from happening, but Mr and Ms Thomas demonstrated their conflict resolution skills and negotiated with the administration to allow the morning’s activities to go ahead.

Nineteen Peace Boat participants went to the maximum security prison to sit side-by-side with convicts, who were serving sentences for violent crimes and murder, and take part in a demonstration of the training sessions. As they walked through the drab concrete hallways and went through individual security searches, participants could hear the clanging of cell doors and shouts of inmates. There was no sugar-coating this situation, which was made more evident as the door of the meeting space was held tightly closed with a rope. The prisoners weren’t shy about telling participants about the crimes they’ve committed and many donned the tattoos of their respective gangs.

Confidence in what you’re doing is a necessity, says Mr Thomas, and you can’t go in there being afraid or judgemental. When he led participants through the corridors at Pollsmoor, smiles appeared out of the crowds of scowling and suspicious faces and from almost every cell he passed, he was greeted with a handshake or hug – a clear sign of the connections he’s made and the lives he has helped change.

“I had to take a very hard look at myself,” Mr Thomas says, “and understand that the gap between myself and someone who has committed a crime is a very small one.”
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Participants opened up to Mr Thomas about conflicts in their personal lives.
The activities and discussions he facilitates aren’t specific to just the penitentiary; they incorporate techniques all of us can use in our daily lives. Mr Thomas held three onboard workshops for Peace Boat participants, showing them how to move back from a conflict, sometimes physically, and to analyse conflict from all sides. He offered several common situations – such as family disagreements or workplace disputes – as examples we can all relate to. All the steps to resolving these problems, however, are exactly the same as he takes the prisoners through, as participants saw that day.

Not only was it important for the visitors from the 68th Global Voyage to actively participate in one of these sessions, it was an opportunity for the inmates to gain a sense that somebody cares about their efforts to change. “I think it also sends them a message that all is not lost, that there are people who think about (the inmates) and about their conditions.”
With translation assistance from Takami Etsuko