Interview: Zsofia, volunteer from Hungary

How do you feel about working with the young offenders?

For me it was a very nice experience because I have learnt a lot of tolerance and patience. It had helped me to have another point of view. I think that in life in almost every place or situation you have something new to learn. It’s always easy to judge without having experienced something and in case of the prison maybe is even truer. People usually have a very generalized opinion about the place and the people who are being in there. I’m still surprised that almost everyone is asking me the same question when I mention my experience working in prison. ‘Why on earth did you go there?’ And I’m always very glad that it was never a question for me and after being there I’m more convinced that I would happily do it again.

What do you hope to accomplish as an educator/ facilitator / social worker in prison?

I think it’s very important that you add something to those people’s life. It can be a happy moment, learning experience, empathy etc.

What do you believe are some of your biggest accomplishments in your work in prison?

I think within the prison is pretty difficult to have confidence. Personally I think the biggest accomplishment from the intern’s and also from my side is that we have learnt to trust each other.

Tell me about the most difficult situation you ever faced on during your work in the prison.

I remember very well that situation because I felt very uncomfortable. There have been many couples in our sessions and we all knew that they didn’t have the possibility to see each other very often, not even mentioning the fact of hugging or kissing the other. Once we have been there making the preparation of the program, one of the couples was sitting next to each other and basically just talking. However the previously established rules fixed that they couldn’t have been in touch during the sessions. So it was our responsibility and task to ‘keep an eye’ on them. And I really felt like intervening and doing something very unnatural.

Tell me about something you would do differently during the sessions in the prison.

Maybe it would be better to work with more helpers. It would be good in order to follow the topic of the sessions because once they feel comfortable in the group they tend to ‘loose’ the interest on the topic and use the time for chatting with the others. But it’s also difficult to decide because I know they don’t have the possibility to do it out of the session and they also come for this aim, to socialize.