Inmates Re-integration and Rehabilitation Project

An Overview

In Cameroon, there are a lot of youths incarcerated in prisons and are often abandoned by their family members. Women and girls makes of 30-45 % of incarcerated inmates and very little is being done to empower these inmates. These are talented youths with skills and some don't have any skill and some came educated and qualified. In the upper farms secondary prison in Buea-SW Region, the situation is improving as the officials are open to initiatives that will make the prison productive as well as empower the inmates to be more productive and responsible.  A lot of prison projects have been carried out in the SW region of Cameroonbut some of these projects were short-lived and provided short term solutions to problems faced by inmates and upon completion of their prison sentence,  most of these inmates often fall back to the same crime and are ferried back to the same prison because they were unable to meet up with the dynamic society. Most of these inmates are often stigmatized and can not easily integrated in their communities.

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This Project was initiated and designed using the participatory approach where the needs of the inmates were of prime concern. The inmates are currently being trained on a weekly basis and follow up every other weekend. We also discovered that most prison projects did not put the inmate at the center of decision-making and planning as well as post-prison life. These projects did not bother to follow up inmates after the end of their jail term. Our re-integration and rehabilitation project aims at:

• Training inmates according to their needs, desire and aspirations. Provide continuous training to those who already had some skills before going to jail.

• Provide them with counseling services, time and self management training

• Provide them with materials and tools to enable start-up while in prison; give them financial management training and follow up.

• Provide assistance (lodging, health care etc) to those who have been trained and are doing something so that they can integrate into the community. This service is offered to those whose families are poor and those that don't have the means to go back to their communities.

• Turn our prisons into  centers of reformation and correction.

At the Upper Farms Prison in Buea-SW Region, inmates are being trained on the following activities:

- Necklace, Bangle and Bracelet making using beads

- Pastry Making (Training inmates on how to make and design cakes for wedding and ceremonies)

- Shoe making and dress marking. A lot of inmates are requesting educational programs, carpentry, welding and sheet metal, aluminum window making. These are skills that can greatly stabilize the life of an inmates after prison.

You can support this project by donating clothes, shoes, books, computers, other equipment.

We accept volunteers to support this project. If you have skills to enable us train more inmates, you are welcome.

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Click the link below to listen to a Testimony from an inmate who makes Necklace and Bracelets from beads donated by CEDEP.

For more information, videos and pictures, contact us.