After two months of collaboration and learning, the first phase of the “Under the Hood” European Solidarity Corps (ESC) volunteering project has concluded at Point Blanche Prison and Miss Lalie Center. The project brought together resident and international volunteers to work together on various creative activities.
A highlight of the project was creating two newsletters: “Jungle News” at Point Blanche Prison and “The Rascals News” at Miss Lalie Center. Published every two weeks, the newsletters created a new channel for sharing information within the facilities while giving residents the opportunity to contribute their own creative content, including puzzles, word games, and other features.
At Point Blanche Prison, the volunteers also launched “Between the Bars”, a book club co-created with Sint Maarten Library to support reading and literacy and contribute to the establishment of the new prison satellite library. Sint Maarten Library staff joined guided sessions around Paulo Coelho’s “The Alchemist” while volunteers and residents worked together to renovate the library space, organize the collection and sort books donated by community supporters through the Sint Maarten Development Fund (SMDF).
They also established “The Spot”, a movie club dedicated to watching thematically relevant films followed by guided group discussions and movie reviews. Photography workshops were another staple activity of the project and allowed the residents to use cameras and learn new technical skills. They expressed themselves creatively not only through photography but also through different artistic activities such as painting, coloring, blackout poetry sessions, and podcasting. The volunteers and residents also participated in cooking activities as well as preparing and writing applications for future projects to ensure different programs continue sustainably within the prison environments in Sint Maarten.
The project’s work does not stop here. Phase 2 of “Under the Hood” started last week, October 9th with a new group of international volunteers at Point Blanche Prison and Miss Lalie Center who will work with the resident volunteers on new creative activities and build on the initiatives established during the first phase.
This initiative was implemented under the Detention Sector Reform Program (DSRP), with joint funding from the European Solidarity Corps, the Ministry of Justice of Sint Maarten and the Government of the Netherlands. It was delivered through a partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
