Imagine your feelings if every time you visited a particular friend you were searched, asked a series of intimidating questions and then taken to a hostile and foreign environment. What if that friend was more of an acquaintance? How long would you be able to handle such difficult visiting conditions? A week? Two weeks?
This is the searching question that Jesuit Social Services African case worker Tapuwa Bofu ponders when praising the volunteer mentors in the African Visitation and Mentoring Programme (AVAMP). The programme delivers mentoring support to people from African backgrounds, before and after their release from prison in Victoria, Australia.
“When we visit prisons we are searched thoroughly. You wouldn’t visit a friend if you knew you had to face this every time,” reflected Tapuwa.
“Our mentors are exceptional people,” said Mentor Joshua Futina. “It is all about just being a human being and wanting to so something to help out a fellow human being. A lot of the people we visit have no families here in Australia who can do that for them so we are trying to fill that gap. It is a big commitment and not something I do lightly but I thoroughly recommend it.”
AVAMP mentors are matched with the participants in remand on the basis of skills and shared interests, and visit Port Philip Prison, Melbourne Assessment Prison, and the Metropolitan Remand Centre.
“Relationships is what it’s all about,” said Daniel Clements, Manager of Brosnan Services, which runs AVAMP. “You don’t have to be an African to be a mentor; the idea is to guide them to somewhere they want to be – a place in life they want to end up.”
To ensure good outcomes for the prisoners and their mentors, the mentors receive ongoing support and are provided with training about culturally sensitive practice over 15 weeks. The training aims to develop a supportive mentoring relationship that continues following re-entry into the community.
For more information on AVAMP, contact Brosnan Services on +61 (03) 9387 1233.
Source: Jesuit Social Services