Oh, my. Where to start. Spent the weekend in prison talking about violence, playing with tinkertoy, making paper monsters, playing basketball, walking by the sea, eating too many cookies, hearing stories... I'm still processing.

The Alternatives to Violence project is not as it seems. There is much talking, no preaching. Also a lot of goofy exercises, meant to show interconnectedness and build community. I met some people with a lot of pain in their lives, their own pain and that they have caused in others. We did role-playing. I listened a lot. Something about the process invites a sort of suspension of the fear of feeling silly, and there were some extremely silly moments. And some funny ones. One of the prisoners was telling me that he was reading about Gandhi, and I asked him if he'd ever seen the Ben Kingsley movie. He said no, and I said, offhand, "It's kind of long". He giggled and replied, "I've got lots of time."

On Saturday, I was in the hallway talking to one of the prisoners, and he introduced me to a man not participating in the program. We shook hands., and he proceeded to tell me about his children and grandchild, and how he was looking forward to someday seeing them again... He told me his application for little trips out had been approved. I told him that was wonderful, and he left. The next afternoon, during one of the breaks in the program, I suddenly felt I was being watched. I turned around and saw that he had returned, and as I caught his eye he gave me a big grin and gestured for me to come talk to him. I was quite touched to find that he had brought pictures of his children and his grandson to show me...

I'll be going back in February.