Excited Beginnings

The SET Diaries project is definitely here at a great time. Each time we meet there are new ideas coming from the group. So here is something we didn't think of. For those persons who have told their stories on paper and may not want to do a audio or video interview, we have decided to do dramatic readings of their stories which the inmates themselves will edit using the skills they have learnt. This mean that we have even more options as it relates to shopping our content…certainly radio is now a major player.

I am just about ready to start issuing our press releases and negotiating with media houses. I hope I have exciting results to share soon.

In the mean time I have some meaningful stories from the group yet to be posted but certainly engaging. 

Introducing S.E.T Inmates Diaries Project

We at S.E.T are very excited about the Inmates Diaries project. Already we have recorded a few stories that will be published very soon. However, we are in the process of generating local interest in our project and so we are holding on to the stories for a bit longer in hopes of negotiating a cover story with one of our local newspapers. But before getting carried away, let me introduce you to the Inmate Dairies project.

Over the last two years, Jamaica with a population of 2.6 million has been branded internationally as the “murder capital” of the world. 2007 ended with over 1500 murders and this does not include other crimes such as rape and robberies which occur on a daily basis. Students Expressing truth (SET) is an inmate driven transformative program that has been successfully reducing the rate of recidivism in jamaica's prisons through a reform of Jamaican society from its lowest level.

In order to drive this process, the SET Inmate Dairies project will allow inmates and ex-inmates to tell their stories so that a greater understanding of the experiences, social and economic conditions which compel them to engage in criminal activities can be recorded and utilised as an authoritative source for studying criminology and designing rehabilitative programmes regionally and internationally.

The inmates will primarily  generate their own content with the training they have received through the S.E.T program. They will record and edit audio and video clips and these will be uploaded to our blog and accessed by the general public.

We have a lot of work to do but we are all very excited about the possibilities of this project. Not only will the Inmate Dairies position SET as the region's leading source of information on the study of criminology but the inmates have been benefiting from the therapeutic effect of telling their stories and resulting in many taking responsibility for their actions. The stories will also reveal the impact of class divisions and the socio-economic realities of Jamaica.   

We intend to use the interest generated from the Inmate Dairies project as a launchpad for a national school tour that will seek to involve schools, communities and coporate entities in the fight against crime and violence in Jamaica. We hope that you will benefit tremendously from our blog and feel free to ask questions or leave comments as they will be readily addressed.

 

To All the People

When I came to Jamaica, I was in a resort
Busted by the police, I ended up in Freeport
They locked me up and done stole my weed
Now I eat porridge that looks like horse feed

Hear me out, hear my cry
I pleaded guilty, I told no lie
Here we are all locked up
No where to go that's messed up
Being here is a lesson to be learned
You can guarantee I won't return

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A Message from the Heart

Why should an individual make the same mistakes as others? Is it because we are not using up our aptitude to face life and its problems? Behind all of this, we're all imperfect as a people.

There are individuals in the prisons, some of whom are innocent, and the others guilty. However, many of the guilty ones want to make a positive change in spite of all the things they have done to humanity and society, but how can we repair all those pain, grief, and losses we had caused when we're not getting the opportunity to do so? On the other hand, there are some individuals who think that we should not be forgiven. So if we have to suffer the consequences, then what about those individuals who are innocent and unfortunately get caught in the system?

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I'm Laughing

These words may lack coherence, because I'm laughing while I write
Laughing at the silly folks who celebrate my plight
Laughing at their claim that I can now no longer bite
Laughing as God forgave me cause I was broken and contrite.

Laughing at politicians who make promises galore
Laughing at voters opening silly ears to hear more.
Laughing while they rid uptown of every street whore,
They prostitute our resources through the door.

Laughing at our prisons where they don't rehabilitate
Laughing at the warders with their big guns at the gate
Laughing at them trying to entice our visiting wives on a date
Laughing, as some will never find themselves until its too late

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This is Thought

This is thought.

If I could sing I would sing my troubles away, but the thing is, I can't, so I write because I got to let people know where God has brought me from, whichever way I do it.

Why me? Everyday I ask God why me, then I remember these words: “should Christ carry the cross and the whole world go free” so I STOP wallowing in self pity/ questioning God.

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Take Off Your Masks

For some of us, it is you who make us unhappy with ourselves and our achievement. You think we need another partner because yours is not good enough. You think we need more expensive clothes because yours is too old and boring. We are ashamed of your job and who you are.

We are ashamed of how you are running the country, why don't you take off your masks and see that what you are doing is wrong. We have a big problem in this country with crime and violence and it will not stop if you don't take off your masks and open your eyes and see that the country is going down, please open your eyes please.

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Prison Teaches Me

Prison teaches me the depth of criminality and tries to keep me out of touch with reality.

Prison teaches me that it is not like home away from home
Where you get tender care instead of fear

Prison teaches me wickedness, bitterness, madness, badness, sadness, selfishness, idleness, laziness, craziness and all kinds of ness that placed me in a mess.

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What is Love?

Love is an unknown mystical power that intoxicates, quavers, and fascinates an individual who encounters with it.

Love is a thunderstruck word, it carries a deep warm current that absorb and quake the human enthusiasm.

Love does not bring you blues, however it only makes you feel content with pleasure, gentleness and harmony.

Love edifies the character, stimulates the mind, will, emotion, heart, and soul; explores your fantasy, and appearance: body language, eyes, walk, talk, and dress code.

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An Open Grave

(Inspired by the Trafigura incident)

Buried six feet under; they hope to be discreet
But now the stench has surfaced from beneath
They thought it was over, but others have exhumed,
The body of corruption which they thought was consumed.

Since corruption isn't flammable–it cannot be burned
So they buried it for a while, but the tables have turned.
Now wide open is the sepulcher which covered the box
As extinct becomes their laughter and they cannot relax.

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