Transformation of Inmates

Watch this 15-minute answer Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh gave to the question raised by a young man in the audience: Is it wrong to give the death penalty? It includes the story of how Angulimala, a serial killer, was transformed.

In 2022, Buddhism In Prisons in Canada launched a Buddhist Book Donation Program for Canadian Prisons. 20 books by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh are donated to prisons and are available to inmates and prison chaplains who wish to offer spiritual care service.

This study correspondence course helps inmates transform their anger which may have prevented healing, mending of relationships and rehabilitation. In this certificate program, inmates study 4 books with the guidance of their trained study partners outside of prison.

 You can see their success stories on their private Facebook group page -  https://www.facebook.com/groups/203191003138386  

 You have to join the Facebook group before you can read the posts.

 Paws For Life is a program where inmates, most of them lifers, train service dogs to help military veterans. 

Irving Relova, was part of the dog training program. He is now a free man and a good citizen of the communities. 

Watch this presentation by Anthony Coleman who spent 23 years in prison since he was 16. He immersed himself in self-help in his last 10 years in prison and saw the benefits.

Mandatory participation in self-help programs is one of his suggestions in his presentation on prison reform.

 Chuck  Rabaut is 88 years old, has been a member since 1974. His mission is to help inmates improve their lives through Toastmasters. The first club met in 2012.  Since then, prison chaplains beseeched Chuck to set up more clubs.

Changing Winds is a Toastmasters club in the Fort Dodge Correctional Facility. 

It was initiated and run by inmate James Sourwine who, at the time, had been incarcerated for almost 9 years, with 8 more ahead of him.

An inmate started a club in prison. This article provides some insight into how a Toastmasters club is formed in prison - with the request of inmates and the support of some Toastmasters as volunteers and mentors who make regular visits in prison.

Watch this 45-minute documentary on Jose Alejandro Vivar. Learn how he turned his life around while he was in prison and created a dream that he pursued when he became a free man.  

 Watch this short speech delivered by Vivar on how it is possible to change. With this speech, he became a semifinalist in the 2017 World Championship of Public Speaking. 

Jose Alejandro Vivar's dream is to start a chain of gyms called 25/7 Fitness to help the underprivileged and at-risk youths. Hear his message.

Watch a TV interview on his dream.