Tuesday December 1, 2009

Today we visited the Remand center - which is located just up the street from our office. Here minors, both boys and girls are housed if they have been convicted of a crime or if there case is still pending. We had some items to donate to the facility. After the donation was made, those of us who had not been before were given a tour. It was very upsetting to tour the grounds, see where they are housed and hear the stories. Those who run the facilities are genuinely trying to run the program to best benefit the children - but the lack of funding greatly hinders these efforts. The children are receiving some education while there, but that's it. There is nothing for them to do, arts and crafts, read..nothing. Rather, then spend their time sitting around in their room one the 4 inch mattresses they call beds. There is simply no money, no resources. The boys room was particularly disturbing. Not all the boys have a mattress to sleep on, the room is bare, bars on the windows - locked in. We went in and the boys where there - they all politely said hello, but they looked sad and lost. There are boys as young at 9 years old here, some serving a year sentence - at 9 years old. Truly heartbreaking to witness. Our role in this center is to ensure the youth have representation and that their rights are being protected.