September 14, 15 and 16 2005, I visited the three prison facilities in Bermuda, the Co-Ed Facility, the Farm and Westgate. Here is what my personal opinions are of the experience, and follow up suggestions.

Co-Ed:
I met with Michael Tuzo and his senior staff. They gave me great briefing on what to expect and helped me identify what I needed to find to establish common ground. I used the story of my alcoholic and abusive father, as many could identify with that, in my opening remarks.

The grounds, on first observation, were very unkempt. Major construction behind the second locked gate was underway, buildings need painting. Entry was not as intimating as I thought. Staff was friendly. It was very noisy with construction.

Presentation went well. 22 women, 7 boys and some staff attended. Mr. Tuzo remained for entire presentation which was much appreciated. Couple of boys were very immature and fidgeted only when one of the girls had a sneezing fit. Body languages of the boys were very much that of skepticism, withdrawn and totally unapproachable. Gang mentality was well entrenched. A few boys had the “don’t touch me, don’t look at me, baggy pants” look. They already had a hardened edge at such an early age.

Women were very normal looking, open and welcoming, and a very different attitude to the boys. Some had a “life has been hard” look, but could tell no difference between this group and one outside the prison.

As I spoke, was not sure if I was getting to the boys. With the women, I was well aware of the connection. Boys soften somewhat where the women were nodding in agreement, on the edge of their seats, laughing when appropriate. The women were firing on all cylinders that a mature, interested as a group should be.

Question and answers followed immediately. Women lead and dominated with full self confidence. Great questions and a lot of passion from the women. They were not afraid to ask hard questions about race and of general. Only one boy asked a question shyly.

There was a request for my book.

I was disappointed not to see more of the staff present, especially the ones involved in education. Back in the board room met the staff. One case worker was most interest in how things went. She was also very frustrated with the system. She had a lot of constructive criticism. Not enough staff for rehabilitation. The facility had changed from a lock up to a rehabilitation facility but the staff was not trained to make the transition. More staff was needed. Also I think a candid conversation between the staff and the PS is much needed for staff to really share their views and for Bobbi to hear. Staff needs much more support than they are getting.

The Farm:
Great team of officers was present. I was joined by the social worker. Mr. Young walked me around the facility. It to is in need of a pain job. Men were just hanging around waiting for what they were to do next. They were really hardened and somewhat intimidating, and one could tell from their body language that many had given up hope and had become very complacent in this surroundings. They were rough and unkempt.

I met a group of about 25 men for my keynote. 3 walked out while speaking. It took a while for the ice to break. Body language became more comfortable as I spoke, and they found the humor. I started to feel I was connecting well with several inmates as story progressed.

Q&A was good and came from a group near the front. They were very sincere, and seemed in awe of what I did. They almost formed a group around me as they asked questions. One wanted to know details of how a motivational career is built. One had sailed and we got to share stories of Horta.

I feel for some of them there is great hope if proper support structures can be implemented on the outside. Mr. Young who was in and out as I spoke said much more of this was needed on a regular basis.

Westgate:
I was joined by Tom Jones of World Vision for this visit and we were welcomed by Kenny Cann and his staff who wanted more of a briefing from me than me getting one from them. After visiting the Farm, my expectations of Westgate was one where the men would be more hardened, cynical and skeptical. I was pleasantly surprised to find the opposite. As I hung out at the back of the room waiting to start, many walked in, recognized me as the speaker and came up and introduced themselves to me. I have not ever encountered this before in any prison. The men were in neat prison attire, clean and looked proud. They did not look like hardened criminals, but more like the person one would encounter anywhere in the community.

Their body language among themselves was of familiarity, but when I began to speak, it was very different. It appeared that many were there as there was no place else to go, and that they would leave shortly. As I spoke I could tell hose who were engaged and those who did not want to be engaged. Those that did not want to be engaged paid attention, but would look at others in the room, not wanting to be the first to get up and walk out. Slowly they became more engaged as I spoke, and one person raised his hand and had a question that was very appropriate for were we were. No one got up, no one fidgeted. My normal keynote is 45 minutes. We were so in sync, that I spoke for 90 minutes and did not have time for Q&A in this session. This was a highly intelligent group of men.

Three individuals came back after lunch for Q&A and discussion. The discussions were very intense, and once more we did not have enough time. These were very sharp individuals and for them and some who were in the presentation, there is a lot of untapped talent that could be constructively challenged in the country.

Conclusion:

Some kind of follow up is needed for all these facilities. Everywhere there have been requests for my book. The main follow up is needed at Westgate. Smaller group interaction in a round table discussion could be very insightful. I think more will speak about their issues and concerns in this setting, and with the right staff present, maybe even effective ideas for their on going learning can be enhanced.

Bermuda is an island where there is a lot of potential and can be a show case of community success. Many prison staff spoke about their frustrations in the community and that the same inmates are consistently returning to prison.

Also, work is needed in the community to provide some sort of support group for former inmates. Inmates do need to find stable legal work in order to support themselves at Bermuda’s high cost of living, and not revert to a life of crime in order to survive on the outside.

I am interested in continuing our relationships with the Department of Corrections, but also would like to work with community groups who are interested in helping to break the inmate cycle.