River ride gives young offenders taste of freedom
Some might call it a free field trip, but the organizers of this morning’s river outing for young offenders say its part of their rehabilitation strategy. Just what did the guys make of the fast-paced boat ride compared to their dull existence at the prison? Well, see for yourself.
Janelle Chanona, Reporting
This morning, under the watchful eye of prison officials, forty youth offenders from the Hattieville Correctional Facility were allowed to leave the confines of their cells to take a spin in the swamps near mile nine and a half on the Western Highway.
According to Managing Director of Bak-a-Bush Tours, Tom Wilson, the free trip for the young criminals is how he defines rehabilitation.
Tom Wilson, Bak-A-Bush Tours
?What our ambition is more than anything is to try to show these kids that even employees here at Bak-A-Bush, some of them have education, but yet some of them don?t have any education…they are still making an honest living and they are having fun while they make that living. They are not hurting anyone, they are helping everyone.?
?Noel McCord, Captain, Bak-A-Bush Tours
?The craft we are using today are environmentally friendly airboats powered by four hundred and fifty Horsepower of pure excitement. YEAH!?
Following a brief orientation, the signing of waiver forms, and donning safety gear, the inmates were ready for their wild ride on the water.
Eric Gilharry, Inmate
?The trip was beautiful, all of us had fun. We thanked the Lord before we come. And I like the ride, the ride was fun.?
Janelle Chanona
?What did you see??
Eric Gilharry
?We see beautiful birds, beautiful everything.?
Anthony Franklin, Inmate
?I like the trip and I give thanks to everybody out yah who mi support we fu mek we could gone pan da nice trip. Because when you deh back deh we feel stressed out and thing and now when we deh out yah so, we feel like we dah somebody, you know. We feel like person, feel free like the bird weh we see deh fly bout.?
According to the Kolbe Foundation, today?s outing is part of a reward program for good behaviour, as well as a peek at life on the other side of the bars.
Francis Woods, Kolbe Foundation
?A lot of people feel they really should be punished to the max when they are back there and these guys are going to come back out, and they have two choices: they can come back really mad at society or they can back feeling they have another chance at life and really making it for themselves. And I think any chance we can get to show these boys that there?s a better life out there, there?s a better way to live their life, anything we can do to help them so that they have an education or basic knowledge of doing something would be a big benefit for society on a whole, not only for that person.?
Mark Anthony Thompson, Inmate Supervisor
?We hope that it would ignite that something that would make them be a better person because they are going to return to society and they are all our kids and we?re hoping that coming back, their lives will be changed in a positive way.?
Tom Wilson
?Private enterprise should pick up and should try to help all they can. There are many, many opportunities for us here with private enterprise to try and assist government and try to move forward and to try to help us raise our social fabric to get these kids off the streets to show them and guide them that they can grow up as a staunch citizen rather than someone trying to drag society down.?
Reporting for News Five, I am Janelle Chanona.
Other trips have included Old Belize, the Philip Goldson International Airport, and the National Fire Service. If you would like to participate in any of Kolbe?s rehabilitation programmes, please contact the institution at 225-6190.
