Description:
Objectives:
The
objective is to help women inmates to be
prepared to reintegrate into the society
after they are released from jail by giving
women inmates the skills and knowledge to
earn their livings, so that they would:
1. |
Make
use of their time in jail more meaningful. |
2. |
Have all the
skills they need to make a better
living after they get out of jail. |
3. |
No longer do
illegal things like selling drugs/narcotics
after they get out of jail. |
4. |
Start earning
money while serving their time in
jail. |
5. |
Become good
citizen after they get out of jail.
|
6. |
Have computer
knowledge when go back to work and
get better paid. |
BPW
clubs in Thailand collaborated with Women
jails in their provinces to give them both
professional skills and knowledge through
a series of professional training. For some
jails and some skills, women inmates may
even be able to start earning money during
their terms in jail, as in cases when the
jail accept outsourcing jobs (such as sewing,
typing documents, etc.) for inmates to do
and give them percentage of the income that
would be accessible to them once they release
from jails.
Activities:
1)
Skill Training for women inmates
BPW clubs work with Women Jail in their
province in the organization of the training.
They typically identified the trainers,
pay for material used in the training as
well as the trainers. Different groups of
selected women inmates participated in each
training. The duration of each training
courses can vary with respect to the skills.
After the training, the women inmates would
receive certificates from BPW (in some provinces
like Lampang, the certificates are co-issued
with Skill Training Institutes). The certificate
would have no references to the jail so
that it would be easier for the women to
use the certificate to apply for jobs later
on.
2)
Donating books and computers
This is done to improve access to knowledge,
so that women inmates can self-educate in
many other things that we did not have enough
time and resources to train them.
3)
Making the quality of Women’s Inmate
products visible
This competition is conducted nation wide,
not limited to the provinces we conduct
skill training. This competition, which
was held in 2004, gave visibility to the
quality of art, crafts and other products
made by women inmates.
Activities
by each BPW Clubs:
BPW Bangkok
- Young BPW Bangkok
identified the trainers, acquired necessary
training materials and organized skill
training for 290 women inmates in Thonburi
Women Jail (Thantasathan Ying Thonburi)
in April 2004 and in August 2004, as follows:
| Training |
#
women trained |
Duration |
| Making artificial
flowers from clay |
30 |
17 April 2004
|
| Making artificial
flowers from wood shaft |
50
|
17 April 2004 |
| Making artificial
flowers from fish scales |
30 |
19-21 Aug 2004 |
| Carving fruits
and vegetables |
15
|
14 Aug 2004 |
| |
15
|
21 Aug 2004 |
| Making
flower decoration for Thai Ceremonies |
15 |
14 Aug 2004 |
| |
15
|
21 Aug 2004 |
| Making batik cloths
|
30 |
17-19 Aug 2004 |
| |
|
20-22 Aug 2004 |
| Making Dyed-Color
cloths |
30 |
17-19 Aug 2004 |
| |
30 |
20-22 Aug 2004 |
| TOTAL |
290
|
|
*Certificates
were provided for all 290 participants of
the training programs in August 2004.
-
BPW Bangkok also
donated 4,261 books and 7 second-hand
computers for Thonburi Women Jail’s
library. These books and computers would
be accessible for approximately 1,700
women inmates. The computers were intended
to be used to train computer skills
for women inmates later on.
-
Funding support for
the training came from BPW Thailand
(32,500 Baht), Zonta International Bangkok
5 (27,500 Baht and also contribute books
donation) and Outstanding Moms Club
(10,000).
-
Rotary International,
District 3350 also join the activities
by giving women inmates with lunches,
ice-cream and many other foods.
BPW Lampang
- BPW Lampang identified
the trainers and organized the following
skill training for women inmates in Lampang
Women Jail (Thantasathan Ying Lampang)
in collaboration with "Lampang Training
Institute”, “Center for Professional
training for Northern Women in Lampang".
| Training |
# women trained |
Duration |
| Beautician
Skill Training |
35 women |
4 Sept –
29 Oct 2002 |
| 35 women* |
13 August –
13 Nov 2003 |
| Sewing skill Training
|
30 women |
25 Sept –
on-going |
* Not the same
group as the one in September 2002.
- For Beautician
Skill Training, BPW Lampang identified
trainers and covered all cost of trainers
and training materials, which amount to
about 16,000 Baht per training session.
- For Sewing Skill
Taining, BPW Lampang identified trainers
and covered all cost of trainers and training
materials. National Council of Women in
Thailand donated 10 sewing machines to
the Lampang Women Jail to support this
training.
- BPW Lampang help
Lampang Women Jail built the library since
October 2002 so that over 300 women inmates
can have better access to knowledge. BPW
members periodically have book drive and
donate books to this library. Currently,
over 1,000 books had been donated to this
library.
BPW Phuket
- BPW Phuket conducted
the following skill training for women
inmates in Phuket Women Jail (Thantasathan
Ying Phuket).
| Training |
#
women trained |
Duration |
| Making Batik
fabric, with added color beets |
16 women |
1 day |
- BPW Phuket covered
all the training cost and training materials
and buy all the finished products to put
them up for sale in various stores in
Phuket. Money earned from the sale was
used to further fund this on-going project.
- Women inmates now
produce 32 pieces for Batik with color
beets per month (2 pieces per persons
per month). They earned about US$10 per
each piece. They should be able to make
more once they are released from jail.
BPW Kalasin
- BPW Kalasin conducted
the following skill training for women
inmates in Kalasin Women Jail (Thantasathan
Ying Kalasin).
| Training |
#
women trained |
Dates |
| Making artificial
flower from fish scales |
100 women |
10 August 2004 |
- BPW Kalasin identified
the trainers and covered all the training
cost and training materials worth 25,000
Baht
Results:
Number of Women being
help: over 2,506 women.
506 women received direct help through skill
training
2,000 women indirectly through donation
of books and computers.
The impact
on women over time:
| Bangkok |
Some
of the women are already finished
serving their time in jail, while
some still remain there. We anticipated
that they would use the skill we
trained them to help earn extra
income. |
| Phuket
|
After
the women are released from jail,
they expected to earn extra income
of about US$10 per each piece of
Batik with color beets. It should
be easier for them to get supplement
income than to get a job. |
| Lampang |
Many
women inmates who received the training
since 2002 had already been release
from jail. They are now working
at beauty parlors to earn their
living. The women who received the
on-going sewing training are now
making money even when they are
still in jail. This is because Lampang
Women Jill received purchase order
for making clothes, table clothes,
etc. The women who did the sewing
earn percentage of the income, which
were deposit into their accounts.
They can access money in these account
after they are release from jail. |
| Kalasin |
About
50% of the women inmates being trained
now earn extra income by making
fish scale artificial flowers to
be sold by Kalasin Women Jail. |
Project Team:
Since 2002
The project team
include:
- Mrs. Maleerat Plumchitchom
(BPW Thailand’s President)
- Mrs. Pornsiri Dhirapat (BPW Bangkok’s
President)
- Mrs. Amphan Phoovaset (BPW Lampang’s
President)
- Mrs. Viphaphan Koosuwan (BPW Phuket’s
President)
- Mrs. Chamoi Waramit (BPW Kalasin’s
President)
Young BPW Participation:
From Bangkok:
- Mrs. Naphaphen
Vejjajiva Project leader, Young BPW Bangkok
- Mrs. Thitinan Wattanavekin Chair of
Young BPW Thailand
- Mrs. Benjavan Upatising Young BPW Bangkok
- Mrs. Duangporn Issarangkul Na Ayudhya
Young BPW Bangkok
- Ms. Wipawin Somsuan Young BPW Bangkok
- Ms. Apinya Wattanavekin Young BPW Bangkok
- Ms. Wanichaya Young BPW Bangkok
Last update: year 2005
|
