Columban Sister inspires BBC Radio

You never think you’ve got the hang of it. You never fall into a routine, unless it is a routine of readiness for the unexpected. But you never give up. For over 20 years I have been visiting gaols here in Chile. Out of every 100,000 of the population 295 are in gaol; it is a huge social problem. And the cost! So much waste, so many poor decisions have been made.

Take Miguel, for example. He was detained with 5,000 pesos ($9.70 AUD) worth of drugs. So far the government has spent over 2 million pesos ($3,880 AUD) on his investigation and that does not include the cost of his defence. In that time he could have been sent to Narcotics Anonymous for rehabilitation which would have gone some way to helping him change his life.

In prison, unless they are helped, they are just waiting to get out and go back to the streets where they certainly will not get the help they need. So they are back again and again and again. My hopes have been dashed so many times, it is only by God’s grace that we keep going.

The hardest of all is when you feel certain a man has turned the corner and then there is Luis's story. Luis was so happy saying goodbye to me some months back after 7 years in prison for possession of drugs. An evangelical, he was very respectful and responsible; he worked in the library of the prison school and was most helpful whenever I needed something translated into Spanish. A whiz at computers, he helped many of us including the guards and teachers. Having lived in America, his English was fluent; we had many conversations and when I talked to him about addictions he was very open and responsive. He took part in the Narcotics Anonymous programme which I help organize in the prison.

For his good conduct he was allowed to leave the prison on Sundays. Undoubtedly he was one of the ‘success’ stories and we were happy to wave him goodbye, as he set off to begin a new life.

But on the very day he was released he robbed, kidnapped and raped a girl who used to visit him in prison. It is thought that she owed him money and when he went to see her, she was with another man. For two weeks Luis went crazy on drinks, drugs and robbing. It was as though something snapped in him and he lost himself in a reckless tirade. In a short time he was caught and sent to a maximum security prison. Two weeks later he committed suicide.

I felt a huge sadness for the victim and for this man. I remember all the good he had done over his years in prison. Did he, at the end, feel he had betrayed all the people who had trusted him and worked with him? His tragedy shows the awful power of drug addiction as well; under its influence one does not measure or even think of the consequences or damages. Luis could not face a lifetime behind bars. May God have mercy on his soul.

Columban Sr Angela McKeever is from Ireland and  has spent more than 30 years in Chile.

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