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“Here at Istmina’s prison projects are frequent and fundamental for all prisoners. Nevertheless, the computer literacy program has been the one in which we have put more effort and attention. We had just seen a computer from the distance. When we had it close at hand we understood its importance. Lots of the inmates are now thankful for having had a computer closer to them”.

Verse by Leonardo Jóse Rentería, inmate from Istmina prison.

« Take it easy, no one is going to steal your things», says Leonardo José Rentería, “the poet”, one of the inmates of the municipal prison of Istmina, a town located in the Chocó Department in Colombia. Istmina is located 75 km away from Quibdó (the Department’s capital) and is surrounded by the paths, crops, and waters of the San Juan River. Istmina is a town of afrodescendants, whites, mestizos and indigenous peoples in which agriculture, fishing, mining and trading sustain the lives and dreams of progress of its inhabitants.

The saint Ecceo Homo, San Miguel Arcángel and la Virgen de las Mercedes are venerated by the vast majority of the population. At Istmina prison, particularly la Virgen de las Mercedes -the Patroness of the inmates in Colombia- hears patiently the prayers and vows of faith made by the inmates, the visitors, and off course, José Leonardo Rentería.

“The poet” is a young man of about 35 years of age, who leans on a cane to walk and prefers to keep to him the memories of that accident that left him with difficulties to walk. The poet is one of the best pupils of Sandra Orejuela, the town’s librarian and cultural promoter.

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Istmina’s Abraham Ayala Library has been taking its extension services to the prison’s town since February 2013, offering computer literacy curses to its inmates. Since then, “the poet” and his mates have learned to use tablets and computers, and through them, have opened a window to freedom. Sandra’s leadership has been determinant to use the library services to transform despair in hope.

The little prison of Istmina is a quadrangular construction with blue doors and worn out walls, hidden under the leaves of two palm trees next to a dirt road with lots of stones, dust and dead grass. This medium security prison has a central courtyard, ten cells with six beds each, and some other areas built by the National Penitentiary and Prison Institute.

Despite the regular restrictions and obstacles to organize educational activities in prisons, Sandra, a natural born cultural leader, proposed a computer literacy program for the inmates, as a part of the extension services offered by the municipal library. The training program was cheerfully accepted and welcomed. Even Istmina’s mayor and the Secretary of Education were present for the launching event. A local radio station called Canalete Estéreo covered the event in the municipal news. Rapidly, 13 inmates signed up. They were distributed into 2 groups: one taking the course on Mondays and the other taking the course on Thursdays.

The level of attendance was breathtaking. All along the process there were the prisoners seated Mondays and Thursdays on rusted desks in a hall near the central court yard to receive the training.

The Poet Verses

His prison mates as well as Sandra, the librarian, call him “the poet”. He is Sandra’s favorite one, for his inextinguishable capacity to make up verses. According to him, he signed up to the course because he wanted to learn how to use a tablet, and felt enthusiastic when he held it on his hands for first time. It was something to be expected: this tablet represented for him a ticket to travel, a window to feel free and look at the world.

It seemed as if this tablet had inside millions of different big and green places, whereas the prison was always limited. It is a timeless place where illusions tend to die before they are born.

That is why the extension services offered by Abraham Ayala’ Library have motivated The Poet and have refreshed his soul. He never imagined that he could learn how to operate electronic devices at his age, and that he would enjoy using them as beautiful metaphors of liberty.

This digital training project brought renewed hope to his life. It feels like a breath of fresh air in the middle of chaos. The town’s library and its extension services with technology are to him a timeout from frustration.

“Before, when I was outside, I used to go to Internet cafes, but in those times things weren’t all digital” -says the poet with a gentle voice- “I remember the mouse and the key board. I used to write really slowly, using only my index fingers. But then Mrs. Orejuela taught us how to place our hands on all the key board so we could type the texts”. “

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The lessons on how to browse the web allowed The Poet to discover new voices in him to inspire beautiful poems and stories. The first thing he did as soon as he could use a tablet without Sandra’s assistance was to search for literature and poetry. And to show his gratitude, he wrote two new poems, one for Mrs. Orejuela and another one about the use of technology. He tried to recite them without reading them, but he is sometimes betrayed by his memory. That is why he now tries to type his poems and focuses on learning how to use Microsoft Word to write down a book he has in mind. Later, with the help of the librarian he will try to submit his work to a writing contest, where he could share his world with those who live out there in the “real world”.

“The truth is that life fades away while we wait. These computers and tablets are like a window to look out there, to know and to see what is happening out in the world. It is like a little piece of freedom. As Emmanuel Kant used to say <<freedom is that faculty which allows other faculties to be more useful>>” says The Poet.

Tablets have no keys

His white hair and slow movements prove how time has passed on him. He is 60 years old and has seen pass many days. He carefully chooses his words and speaks slowly, with the awareness of someone who makes an effort not to make a mistake again. He cannot remember if he had seen a computer when he was out of the prison, but he is sure he had never had a tablet on his hands. Then the Abraham Ayala Municipal Library allowed him to use new technologies to access information and to communicate.

On his first computer literacy class with Istmina’s librarian, Pedro Pablo was lucky and was allowed to use the computer on his own, since his desk mate was too scared to use it.

“I remember typewriters. When I used to go to school we didn’t have any but then, when I was older, I had to write a letter for the municipality and I remember that the keys were really hard and you had to hit them to make them work. In computers everything is so different; you just have to softly touch them. Everything is painted in the screen”, says Pedro Pablo, when he talks about his first contact with information and communication technology. “Tablets don’t even have keys” he says particularly astonished.

Sandra Orejuela’s way to teach, full of tenderness and understanding, motivates her audience and helps them feel at ease. Thanks to the extension services of the Municipal Library, Pedro Pablo feels now closer to his grandchildren and to being free. Technology makes him think he is not so far of what he has lost, and offers him new ways to reflect upon the mistakes of the past. Technology has given some years of life back to him along with his past enthusiasm… technology has shown him another path for hope.

In prison, Pedro Pablo learned how to bake bread and he dreams about having his own bakery shop once he is out of prison. Someone told him he could sign up for on line curses – without having to go anywhere- to improve the skills he already has. He knows now that with the librarian’s help he can find on line curses to learn from the best teachers.

Computers, tablets, games, and the lights and colours of the screen, make Istmina prisoners feel closer to the universe of freedom. And as Pedro Pablo says “the world is changing too fast and we must thank Sandra and the library for not letting the prisoners get lost in the process”

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Time is short

“Working with computers is exciting, although time is too short and you feel like a child with a new toy. When Sandra leaves, we stay bored, it all happens too quickly” says Gustavo Cordoba, another inmate from the Istmina prison.

Gustavo is the youngest; an active man who has developed interest for woodcarvings. He found a window on Internet and with it an opportunity to make new designs, improve his technique and improve his knowledge about this craft. During his classes he invests part of the time to browse on the web new models and referents for his carving.

Gustavo uses the computer to download images of famous paintings in order to base his carvings on them. He explains that people are more likely to buy a carving of a famous painting than one with regular sunflowers or still life. In this way he tries to make some money, do what he likes and avoid the problems that put him into prison.

“One doesn’t understand, one knows. In other words, if Sandra had not come to teach us how to use the computers, I would not have had the idea to carve famous paintings. I don’t know anything formal about art. But it is easy to learn with the computers searching for famous paintings. I prefer to carve the ones with religious images, since those are the ones people like the most”.

It is possible that Sandra, the librarian, can’t measure the real impact she has had on these inmates with the library extension services she has taken to Istminas´s prison. A “take away” library in prison, with all its technologies, has softened the harshness of life in prison and Sandra has shown the inmates that inner freedom transcends the bars of their cells Mahatma Gandhi, knew very well about this and used to say that “outer freedom shall be achieved only if at certain point, we knew how to develop our inner freedom”

Abraham Ayala Municipal Library makes part of the project Use and Appropriation of ICT from the Ministry of Culture of Colombia and the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, and by endowing libraries with new technologies, new services have been developed for all kinds of library users.