Refuge in Kenya and sanctuary in a UK prison

By GERRY LOUGHRAN

Posted  Saturday, April 27   2013 

IN SUMMARY

• All this was familiar enough to anyone acquainted with the problems of street children and governance in East Africa. The less knowledgeable would have found parts of it heart-wrenching and the doubtless would have wondered about the lack of availability of a key government servant.

It was a 30-minute Channel Four TV documentary. Dan Nderitu ran a street children’s refuge in Gilgil, Kenya.

He wanted to take in two brothers, aged about eight and 10, but he needed official permission or he might be accused of abducting them.

A letter was typed outlining the circumstances and all it needed was endorsement by the local children’s officer. However, she was not at her office and her mobile was turned off, so the boys spent another weekend on the streets.

The following week, Dan tried again. The official was still unreachable by phone and still not at her desk, but her deputy was. He got the necessary signature and the boys were finally moved to safety.

All this was familiar enough to anyone acquainted with the problems of street children and governance in East Africa. The less knowledgeable would have found parts of it heart-wrenching and the doubtless would have wondered about the lack of availability of a key government servant.

But that’s the thing about television. Whatever its critics say, there is always something you did not know and probably find difficulty in believing.

A BBC programme, “The Prisoners,” told us of young women who preferred being behind bars to living outside. Jail offered a structure to their disordered lives, security, calmness and sometimes even love and affection.

Jade, 18, convicted of burglary six times, had spent most of her life in institutions. Her mother had been jailed, too. In the four months the TV followed Jade, she was in and out of London’s Holloway Prison three times. Outside, she had a council flat and a dog and drank a lot of Vodka.

She wrote a sad letter to her favourite prison officer, Miss Kelly. “I miss you loads.”

Staying out of prison was a struggle. “I’m not going to lie,” she said. “I do love prison and I do miss it.”

Crystal, 23, jailed for drug offences, told the reporter, “The best times I’ve had have been in prison”. There, she said, she had “loads of decent friends. Outside, they’ve been more like associates”.

In Holloway, she learned to read and write and proudly showed her collection of certificates from prison courses: literacy, numeracy, “crack awareness”.

She signed up for rehabilitation on release, but dropped out and took an overdose. Her best friend disappeared and the programme ended in a different type of constraint, with Crystal incarcerated under the Mental Health Act.

Emma, 23, was different. She had a privileged upbringing with a private education and violin lessons, but when she went to Sixth-Form college she discovered drugs and was soon thieving to support her habit. She was in Holloway for the third time for shoplifting.

Drugs, she said, were like being on a diet and seeing a piece of chocolate cake. “You have a little bit and you end up eating the whole cake.”

* * *

The political speech went on and on. At one point somebody at the back called out, “Can’t hear you.” Somebody at the front responded, “You can change places with me.”

* * *

The tiny West African nation, The Gambia, has shortened the working week to four days, giving everybody a three-day weekend.

Workers will still do 40 hours, said the President, but having Fridays off would “allow Gambians to devote more time to prayer, social activities and agriculture”.

The four-day week with longer shifts is popular in Holland, and several US states have trialled it, not always deciding in favour. In Britain, employers appear open to the idea but flexitime and working from home are seen as popular alternatives.

Professor Gary Cooper of Leicester University said, “Going into the office seems to be part of our DNA, but the longer hours of a shorter week are bad for health and cause stress. New technology means people can work as easily from home. What it is about is flexibility, flexible time, flexible place.”

John Walker of the Federation of Small Businesses said the four-day week would be impractical for businesses like corner shops, plumbers and locksmiths, who were expected to be on hand at all times.

Anyone in the dole queue might make the point that all of the above depends on having a job in the first place.

* * *

A spectator takes his seat at the Cup Final and notices there is an empty seat between him and the next spectator. Strange for such a popular event, he thinks, so asks if anyone is sitting there.

“No,” says the seated man. “It’s actually my seat. My wife was supposed to come with me but she passed away.”

“Oh, gosh,” says the embarrassed spectator, “I’m terribly sorry. But could you not find someone to take her ticket, a friend or relative?”

The man shakes his head. “No, they are all at the funeral.”

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