Renovating Lives and Buildings
For a small group of young offenders in Germany, rehabilitation means a work trip to Romania. Three years ago, these men opted to take part in PF Germany’s alternative prison unit, Seehaus Youth Farm, rather than spending two to three years in prison for their minor offences.
They lived and worked at PF Germany’s youth farm, where they learned to “take responsibility for the past, the present and the future,” according to the programme’s mandates. These three men shared a 400-year-old farmhouse in Leonberg, Germany, with volunteer families and 10 other juvenile offenders. They received an academic and biblical education, engaged in sports, learned carpentry skills and benefited from mentoring and counselling provided by PF’s Christian staff and volunteers.
When the young men graduated from the PF programme, they went to
work in carpentry shops in the Leonberg area. But their PF education
did not end there. Despite having completed their sentences, they each
agreed to accompany PF Germany staff and volunteers on a trip to put
their
carpentry skills to work for Prison Fellowship Romania.
PF Romania reaches out to the community through six operational centres—four focus on children in need and two on the homeless. Many of these shelters are very old and were sorely in need of extensive repair. With their recently acquired carpentry skills, these three German men were just the people PF Romania needed.
The three ex-offenders took one week from their own jobs and
families and travelled to Romania
with Tobias Merckle, PF Germany Executive Director, and 14 other PF
staff and volunteers. They set out to renovate three of PF Romania’s
centres: the Day-Centre for Children’s Social Integration (a day school
that provides coaching and counselling to children who have
committed
crimes), The Christian Centre for Homeless People (offering a
residential home for the homeless), and the Ruchama Night Shelter (a
night shelter for the homeless that also provides medical and hygienic assistance).
The youth farm graduates took the responsibility for all the
construction projects and taught the others the skills needed to
assist. The group repaired the roofs, laid linoleum, painted the rooms,
repaired the toilets, and fixed the windows. They worked long days in
the hot sun, but
all said they were glad they participated. Alex, one of the three
Seehaus graduates who also spoke at PF Germany’s 5th Anniversary, said
the trip was “well worth it,” despite the gruelling schedule. Another
remarked that “it was an enriching experience.”
Visiting Romania, with many of its rural population living in
poverty or close to it, was a revelation for the three boys who grew up
in the middle class suburbs of Germany. One of the purposes of the trip was to “expose the German juveniles to the
poor living
conditions other people have to live in,” explains Tobias.
PF Germany also arranged for a German humanitarian organization to deliver two truckloads of supplies for PF Romania’s centres. “The impact has been wonderful,” reports Constantin Asavoaie, PF Romania Board Chairperson. “Our big family has been deeply touched by the twin sister, Prison Fellowship Germany.”
The young men from PF Germany’s youth farm were not the only ex-offenders to take part in this worthwhile project. PF Romania recruited 110 ex-prisoners to complete the renovations after the German crew returned home.
It’s hard to know who benefited the most from this joint PF
project—the ex-offenders in Romania, the Seehaus participants in
Germany, or the children and homeless in Romania who will find caring
support and help at these important PF centres. As Tobias remarked,
“It
was a very enriching experience for all the participants.”
This article first appeared in Prison Fellowship International's Global Link newsletter for November 2008.
January 2008
