Tuesday, April 24, 2012

The African Prisons Project (APP)


The Condemmed Choir



From the website AfricanPrisons.org/ OR GO here

Our mission

To bring dignity and hope to men, women and children in prison through healthcare, education, access to justice and community reintegration.

Our vision

Our vision is that prisons in Africa are places of positive transformation and that entering prison does not mean losing hope. We believe depravation of freedom need not mean deprivation of humanity.

The African Prisons Project (APP) is a group of people passionately committed to improving access to healthcare, education, justice and community reintegration for prisoners in Africa. We aim to restore the dignity of those we serve by providing humane conditions and services which help them to regain their humanity. We build and refurbish prison medical and educational facilities, provide innovative services and work to change the attitudes of the societies serve when it comes to criminal justice issues.

Africa is a continent in transition, and its problems are magnified within its detention systems. The plight of detainees is rarely noticed; therefore they receive little help from charitable organisations. Yet they include the most downtrodden and vulnerable - babies imprisoned with their mothers, the mentally ill, children and the illiterate.

APP ( African Prison Project) Blog

The most vulnerable are often the most victimised

10 April 2012 by Joe Hampton

Growing up in prison is a sad and troubling prospect but unfortunately is not unusual in many parts of Africa. Although there has recently been positive steps taken globally and regionally, child imprisonment remains a major issue in Africa. There are two categories of children in prison: those serving a prison sentence for criminal activity and those living with their mothers. According to official statistics, children make up between 0.5 and 2.5 per cent of the African prison population...

( Above excerpt is from the African Prison Project website -- find more at http://www.africanprisons.org/ as well as a Wikipedia entry at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Prisons_Project . )

In the post just below this one -- also entered today, 24 April, find a recent request for interviews by staff/voluntees working with this project...

2 comments:

CN said...

NOTE in the post to follow how this effort is seeking more information and links to the Death Penalty and Death Row issues world wide -- starting with Africa (particularly Kenya and Uganda) as well as Texas.

CN said...

The "Sunny Days" video of the Condemmed in Uganda -- featured on You Tube and offered by APP is such a heart-grabber.

What beautiful & inspiring music from the country of two of my sons! Let your friends and contacts know about these two posts here -- Tell them to see 24 April 2012 The Journey of Hope blogsite for two posts on the efforts of APP.

USE this link for ease: http://thejourneyofhope.blogspot.com

May many of the over 432 viewers of the YOUTUBE CD excerpt "Sunny Days" and the unknown viewers here find ways to carry inspiration to action if only to post this and to do the same works of mercy wherever we happen to find ourselves.