Only small children smile
03.08.2009
This 60's ballad has found it way onto the lips of many grateful prisoners and families since the introduction of the "Yellow Ribbon Campaign" in all Fijian penal institutions. It is an effort by the Prisons' Commissioner to both humanise the jails, and also to educate the public that the greatest imprisonment inmates face is their rejection and discrimination when they return home.
For the last 4 years I have found myself unofficial Catholic chaplain to the Korovou Jail, the main detention centre in Suva. It was opened for the visit of Queen Victoria to the Colony of Fiji in 1901, and most of its buildings have not been repaired since.
The dark, mosquito and cockroach- ridden cells have witnessed many acts of brutality by prison officers over the years dispensing "Fijian justice" to inmates. Now these cells are more likely to be filled with the melodies of Sunday choir practice, creative writing classes, woodwork, painting and sculpting. I celebrate the Eucharist on Sunday morning on the canteen bench, while the inmates act as readers, catechist and Eucharistic minister.
We launched the Yellow Ribbon Campaign in October 2008 ending with a display of dance talents by the prisoners. Then came the publication of Shedding Silences, an anthology of inmates' writings.
"I've been a prisoner here for nine years. I work in the garage so I cross the road and work in the open. Many buses and cars go by. When I wave, all the men and women give me angry faces. Only the small children smile and wave back"Peceli V. Masidole, Shedding Silences.
More recently, a group of Catholic youth went in to host a concert of music, witness and liturgical movement, much of it from experiences they had during the World Youth Day in Sydney in July.
There was both hysterical laugher and tears from the prisoners as they watched dramas dealing with domestic violence, rejection and repentance. Some of them were so moved they had to leave.
"Mum, I received your letter saying Dad does not want you to come to see me, that's fine, I understand...
Eight years is coming to an end. I don't want the streets of Suva to be home for me again. I will be on the MV Sofe boat. I'll get off at the pig-pen before the village, just to see how things are, whether it's OK for me to return". Tevita Poese, Shedding Silences.
It is a challenging ministry. Often, we chaplains are made to stand for long periods in the blistering heat waiting to get inside the prison. Or there is a constant request for sandals (many prisoners have no footwear), or contact to be made with relatives or letters asking for EMP's (extra-mural punishment) to be served in their various parishes.
There are times I wish the local clergy would be more supportive of these, their parishioners, in terms of pastoral visitation. But the young men, my brothers, have enriched my life immensely. I thank God for these in whom Christ lives so powerfully.
Fr Pat Colgan is a Columban Priest and is the Rector of Initial Formation of Fijian Columban students in Suva as well as a prison chaplain.
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