Stories from the Pacific

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Using the Past to Change the Future

A chance meeting with a former addict changes the life of a PF Australia staff member who once contemplated murdering her abusive husband.

PF South Africa Engaging Churches through STP

From 12 to 15 July, Douw Grobler, PF South Africa executive director, conducted Sycamore Tree Project®training for 28 second year students at the Methodist seminary in Pietermaritzburg. The four day event included sessions on the impact of crime on society, restorative justice, the role of the church, each of the Sycamore Tree Project®sessions, and a prison visit.

STP Going Strong in Western Australia

On 9 August, PF Australia (Western Australia) celebrated its 34th Sycamore Tree Project®. The course, the fifth to be run in Casuarina prison, included twelve prisoner and seven victim participants. They each reported meeting their personal goals for participating in the programme. Participant comments included:

Conditional cautions: lessons learnt from the unpaid reparative work pilot implementation.

From the Ministry of Justice Research Summary by Linda Rice: A pilot to test the implementation of the unpaid reparative work conditional caution (RWC),1 a type of out-of-court disposal, took place in seven Basic Command Units (BCUs) between December 2006 and September 2007. The purpose of the RWC was to enable offenders to make good any damage they had caused by carrying out up to 20 hours of specified work. There was a low take-up with only six RWCs administered by the time the pilot finished, earlier than planned, in September 2007. The research described here explored the reasons for this low take-up. The pilot was not able to produce evidence on the effectiveness of the RWC. The RWC is still available to be used as a condition of a caution at the discretion of local criminal justice areas.

PF Brazil Signs Agreement with the Government of Minas Gerais

In late June, PF Brazil signed a cooperative agreement with the Secretary of Social Defence of the State of Minas Gerais.

Hungary’s President Visits PF’s APAC

In May, President Sólyom Láslo visited VAC prison in response to an invitation by the Hungarian Association of Prison Chaplains. During the visit Mr. Láslo met with officials from the prison administration, 70 prison chaplains, and PF Hungary volunteers. He also spent 45 minutes in PF Hungary’s APAC programme where he heard testimonies from participants and listened to the APAC choir sing.

Raising Community Awareness in Swaziland

In April, PF Swaziland participated in an awareness raising event aimed to help community leaders in the country’s Lubombo region understand the proposed community service programme. Organised by the Commissioner of Correctional Services, the meeting included several stakeholders: Correctional services, local chiefs, the Swaziland Association for Crime Prevention and the Rehabilitation of Offenders (SACRO), National Emergency Response Council on HIV/AIDS (NERCHA), and PF Swaziland.

Exploring alternatives in Finland

During the last year, PF Finland organized two seminars for staff from different churches and faith communities working in prison. About one-third of the seminar agenda included justice topics discussing the roles that faith communities can serve in such work.

PF Rwanda Receives Grant for Reconciliation Work

Recently, PF Rwanda received a two-year grant from the Embassy of Belgium in Kigali. The grant will support the ministry’s restorative justice activities both in prison and in the community. The goal is to strengthen the understanding of restorative justice at various levels and support peaceful coexistence in communities where those guilty of crimes during the 1994 genocide and survivors are living side-by-side.

Expériences de l'animateur STP

Une récente thèse de Maîtrise de l'Université Notre-Dame de l'Australie explore l'expérience des animateurs et animateurs assistants de STP en Australie Occidentale. L'auteur, Jean Mackenzie, a déclaré que son but était de «décrire en détail l'expérience de facilitation ou d'aide à la facilitation de groupes participant à un programme de justice réparatrice ...."