Meeting in Valencia started with a brief presentation of the work program and colleagues in Spain who are involved in adult education in prison and I have not had the opportunity to know them. After this presentation the project coordinator did an analysis of the activities to achieve the objectives of the application form. The work program continued with a power point presentation of the first information on the Spanish prison system and how it works (organization, people, etc.), offer educational and other activities taking place inside the prison. Before lunch for 20 minutes, participants were able to attend one of the biggest holidays in Valencia and learn more about traditional customs. During the lunch participants had the opportunity to see how to cook Paella Vanlenciana, typical product of this community.
The afternoon was paid a visit to the Museum of Science and Art, Opera and other cultural objectives. Finally, to close the first-day activities, a final visit was done to the Fallero museum, an exhibition of the best cardboard monuments of every year from the beginning of the 20th century.
Day two began with the meeting between the director of prison and meeting participants and discussed the issues of the penitentiary system in Spain and the importance of education in prison management. Next, participants attended the activities performed by the inmates and they was very interested about some programs that lead to the development of self-esteem of prisoners and the establishment of the future prospects. Among these we notice program for mothers who gave birth in prison and have the possibility to stay with the child until the age of three years, participation in vocational training of prisoners, sports, studio ceramics, etc. Further was presented an material on social reintegration programs, material that contributed to the exchange of best practices among participants.
On the second part of the days, the representants from Romania have organized a workshop that was to make the greetings during the day dedicated to women and "Martisor" (small objects that symbolize the beginning of spring and is a tradition of the Romanian people). The purpose of this workshop was to preserve and promote the cultural identity, to develop artistical creativity and sentimental to the persons detained. For the educators involved in the project the aim was to exchange ideas and identify new activities since that the prison population consists of people with different nationalities, customs and traditions. The work program continued to watching the musical theatre ,performed by inmates.
Day three began with participation in treatment of prisoners classified as closed regim, activities who we was pleasantly surprised by their diversity. Interesting activities were: training dogs for people with disabilities, participation in programs qualifying prisoners who are held after the release with the support of the local authorities and the prison education system. The next activity was presented to inmates a play entertainment in English, whose screenplay was coceput so as to be understood by the public and to improve communication language for those who are of other nationalities. In the roles were involved the project colleagues.
Finally, the last meeting was held at the hotel. There, we shared the different ideas on the project evaluation up to that point, as well as doing the evaluation of the mobility throughout a questionnaire done by all the participants. Moreover, the attendance certificates to this mobility were delivered.
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission.
This communication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.
