Luckily I have had very thin connections with proper jails so far. Indeed I only found myself interpreting from English into Italian and vice-versa for people who were allegedly accused of committing minor crimes or were involved in rather convoluted immigration cases.
I mainly interpreted in male prisons and in court cases involving young men, but, from my experience, I gathered one thing, there were never enough educational programmes for inmates.
This is why I found rather interesting a recent fashion programme that was started at the female prison of Como.
Entitled "Libere di creare" (Free To Create), the project – originally launched between 2005-2007 and relaunched earlier this year after stopping between 2006-2007 (Italian jails are at present extremely overcrowded and facing lots of problems also when it comes to funding educational projects) – consisted in organising a dressmaking/tailoring course for female inmates.
The local prison administration offered the spaces that were later on turned into a dressmaker's workshop and used by the local inmates to make garments and accessories.
Lecturers from a local school taught the basic cutting and sewing techniques and the results were showcased a few days ago during a catwalk show. Yet the project doesn't end here: the designs created by the women who took part in the course will be auctioned off and the money raised will be used to develop the project further.
Launching the initiative in Como was very apt since the town is based in a very important textile district, but the most important thing about the project is the fact that it definitely helps women serving their time in jail to gain further skills that may turn very useful in the future while also channelling their creative energies in a positive way.
I just hope that one day also fashion designers will get involved in such projects: it would indeed be great to see a proper fashion house or label developing a collaboration with a prison.
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