Yen Ha Prison (Phu Yen District, Son La Province) is managing and detaining more than 3,000 prisoners from Dien Bien, Son La, Lai Chau, Hoa Binh provinces,… These inmates are mainly from remote areas. In remote areas, the level of legal knowledge is still limited, many people are illiterate (regarding 500 inmates).
In order for prisoners to be rehabilitated with peace of mind, when they return to be useful people to society, not to go down the same path, over the past 10 years, Yen Ha Prison has organized a class to eliminate illiteracy, so far, nearly 700 people know. read and write.
When inmates are literate, they can read books, newspapers and write letters to their families, which has a very good impact on their psychology and ideology so that they can rest assured to be rehabilitated.
The reply letter and picture of her mother have been preserved by Ho Bao Van for many years.
For example, inmate Ho Bao Van (SN 1987), was born in a poor family in Dak Nong province, so he was not educated like his peers.
Reaching adulthood, Van wandered from province to city to earn a living.
In 2006, during the wandering days, Van had a conflict and beat to death a person in a pub in Vung Tau. The price that Van had to pay was a life sentence for murder at the age of 19. On the day the court handed down the sentence, Van’s mother fell to her knees crying in court.
Serving the sentence until 2013 (following 7 years of serving the sentence) Van participated in a disturbance in the camp, so she was transferred to Yen Ha Detention Center.
When she was transferred to Yen Ha Prison, Van might not read or write, so she enrolled in an literacy class. From the initial scribbles, following many days of persistent study, Van was able to read and write.
After taking the literacy class, Ho Bao Van knew how to read and write.
“Before, I only knew how to repair motorbikes and fight, and the first time I held a pen to write, I felt awkward. But encouraged by the school administrators and enthusiastic, I was determined to learn letters to awaken my conscience and guide kindness. “, Van said
Participating in literacy classes, Van can read fluently. The books and novels in the prison library were cherished by Van when they were borrowed. The prisoner might not remember how many novels he had read because he would go to the library to borrow books every weekend.
Besides reading books, Ho Bao Van was able to write his first four-page letter to his elderly mother in his hometown.
This is something that Van has never dared to think regarding in the past decades. When she received the letter from her son, Van’s mother was extremely touched and wrote a reply. In the reply letter, her mother praised Van’s letter with beautiful handwriting, easy to read, loving writing, and literary quality.
“Now I’m almost 40 years old, I know the return date is still far away, but I still try to reform well, wishing to continue to be sentenced to prison before the deadline to return home to take care of my elderly mother in the last years of her life. life”, Ho Bao Van shared.
The male inmate said that if he had learned to read and practice from a young age, he might not have entered the legal path and now have to repent and regret. Up to now, Ho Bao Van has celebrated Tet for 17 years in his cell.
On New Year’s Day, when talking regarding the inmate’s mother, she choked with emotion. In the heart of Van, no matter how many mistakes she made, she still turned to her old mother in her hometown.
Since learning letters, writing letters to Ho Bao Van’s mother has changed her perception and improved for the better.
Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Chi An – Head of the Education Team of Yen Ha Prison said that the opening of literacy classes has greatly improved the education of prisoners, such as inmate Ho Bao Van serving a life sentence. . When brought to Yen Ha Detention Center, inmate Van was illiterate and showed a non-cooperative attitude.
After that, prison officials transferred prisoners to study in literacy classes. When he learned how to read and write letters to his mother, Ho Bao Van made many positive changes. Currently, prisoners have been reduced to 2 times from life in prison to 30 years.