Columban Sr Angela McKeever writes about her prison ministry in Chile.
You never get used to it. 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’ve been visiting jails here in Chile. Out of every 100,000 of the population 295 are in jail. It is a huge social problem. And the cost! So much waste! So many poor decisions! Take Miguel, for example. He was detained with $10 worth of drugs. So far the government has spent over $4000 on his investigation - and that does not include the cost of his defence.
In that time he could have been sent to Narcotics Anonymous (NA) for rehabilitation which would have gone some way to helping him change his life.
Miguel is but one of the many young people between the ages of 18-24 who end up in jail. Most come from dysfunctional families and have been on the streets since they were seven or eight. In prison they need to get help to rehabilitate. Unfortunately, many are just waiting to get out and go back to the streets where they certainly will not get this help. Many of them will soon return to prison.
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 sure a man has turned the corner and then...? Take Luis for example. He was so happy saying goodbye to me some months back, after seven 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 correct Spanish. A whiz at computers, he helped many of us, including the guards and teachers, with our laptops. Having lived in America, his English was fluent. We had many conversations together. When I talked to him about addictions he was very open and responsive. He took part in the Narcotics Anonymous programme which I 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 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 alcohol, drugs and robbery. 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 jail. 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. Under its influence one does not think of consequences or damages. Luis could not face a lifetime behind bars. May God have mercy on his soul.
Meny is another sad case. He had been 10 years in jail. He got out eight years ago and went straight, working, no alcohol, drugs or crime. But just six months ago he had a fierce row with his wife, left all and returned to his old ways which landed him back in prison facing a possible sentence of 15 years. He thought that because he was working he had recovered, but it seems a lot of negative thinking and emotions had accumulated.
It is almost impossible for addicts to survive on their own. They need constant help, someone to talk to, some group to support them.
I am convinced that most people in jail are addicts, whether it be to drink, drugs, sex or money. Recently I was talking to a young man named Juan who started talking about his life. Through stealing he could have money, cars, houses and property. "Why do you not stop?" I asked. The same problem has landed him in jail a few times. "I don’t know," he said, "but I love the rush, the adrenaline and to have a lot of money. I am sitting at home and suddenly, "Money" comes to my mind. The obsession is so strong that I drop everything and make plans to steal."
That obsession is similar in the alcoholic, the drug addict and the sex addict. When it’s activated the addict wants more and more and can never be satisfied. Many of the men have told me over the years that it is only when they undertake the spiritual programmes of Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous or Gamblers Anonymous that they begin to find meaning and the emptiness in their lives begins to heal.
Rivers of pain and suffering flow through these prison cells. The awful power of addictions destroys young lives and families. It turns young men, so full of promise, into criminals and thugs. It is almost impossible for them to turn from their addictions and forge a new path. Only a few succeed.
I remember a day when the priest visited the jail to hear confessions and not one man turned up. "There are no sinners here," he smiled as he was leaving. "Ah Padre," one of the men said, "We are all sinners but we have not repented." And, he inferred, it was unlikely that they would ever do so.
Columban Sr Angela McKeever has spent more than 30 years in Chile.
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