His students clearly look up to him. He tries to help the more troubled ones after class, and can often be seen putting his arm around their shoulders while he asks them why they are so withdrawn or angry and listens to their stories of pain and loss. But going to class not only occupies their time, it also gives them hope. It provides them with structure that is therapeutic. Seventy per cent of the children in prisons are illiterate, and there is a strong correlation between illiteracy and the manipulation of children to commit violence.
Education is the vital step in reintegrating children with society.
It is also a vital step in restoring children's trust in adults and each other. But now I have a chance. May parents are dead, but they would have been proud of me. 00150.RWA, June 1995.