What is it like to volunteer in prison?

I started volunteering in prison by joining board game classes. Initially,  there was a lot of anxiety about the unknown, as well as stereotypes. Before I started I had a meeting with one of the project participants, who was very clear and informative about how everything works, what to consider and what to know. During the board game lessons I was pleasantly surprised how supportive, friendly and communicative the guys were. I could see that they were learning to cooperate with each other, and they did that very well. Most of them showed initiative and it was obvious that they appreciated the opportunity to be involved in the activities. After a while I started to work with another group leading creative activities. 

Among these we included a joint Easter event with egg dyeing, as well as a couple of cooking activities. In the creative classes we initially designed models, which took several lessons. The guys were quite isolated in their own groups when doing this work, but within the group they communicated well, helped and supported each other in finding common solutions and generating ideas. After these sessions we started to work individually, which seemed more productive as the whole group had a common task which allowed the whole group to communicate, not just part of the group members.

We had a Mother's Day activity where we made candles and cards as greetings. It seems this activity was the most emotional for both: me and the guys. In this workshop, alongside the creative work, several of the guys had already become open enough to tell me and the group about their family situation, their loved ones, their relationship with their family.  In general, the group shows progress towards mutual communication and building trust. It was a great pleasure that as time went by, the guys themselves started to take the initiative for the workshops. They made ideas and suggestions about what we could do in the classes and what they would like to learn. The models that they created in prison were donated to the children. And they would like to continue to do good for society with the available opportunities to them. 

One of ideas was making hats and donating them to children which now become a reality because this work is in process. We plan to continue the work with the guys who are in prison, and we are very happy that volunteering has encouraged them to start thinking about how they can develop themselves - learning new skills and  helping others. The project ended with an informal event with the prison's re-socialisation unit. I think it was very useful for both of us to discuss the experience and draw conclusions about what we have done. For me the most valuable lesson was that they are the ones who ‘train, teach and educate’ the guys inside prison, but it is our duty as volunteers to be there, to be friends and to remind them that there is a world out there that has not forgotten about them.