The year to July 2005 has been an important one for RODI as explained in
this report. RODI is an organization with a difference in terms of belief and
approach to development. We approach development with a firm belief that even
in the poorest community there must be resources that make life go on however
poorly. These resources should be identified and mobilised if and dignified and
sustainable development has to be realised; hence our name- Oriented resources
oriented development initiatives. RODI uses a Resources Development Approach
rather than the commonly used
problems oriented development
approach. We believe development interventions should be based on the positive
and the potential of people rather than the negative and their inadequacies.
As an organization we are
concerned about the high levels of poverty, the high rate of crime and
re-offending in our country. Hence our Prisoner Rehabilitation Programme (PREP)
that aims at cutting this cycle of poverty, crime and re-offending. Important
lessons have been learnt in the course of PREP- unless there is change in the
way rehabilitation of offenders is done, poverty, crime and recidivism will
continue increasing. This is because it turns petty offenders into hard-core
criminals.
RODIs mission revolves around correcting the above malpractice- we work
with a wide range of stakeholders including prisons, prisoners, ex-prisoners
and communities because rehabilitation of offenders should not start and end in
prison.
During the year ending July 2005
RODI made significant achievement by not only continuing with the noble work of
training prisoners, following up ex-prisoners and reaching out poor communities
but it also scaled up the same and is now set to extend the experience into the
region. Success in doing this was largely as a result of successful completion
of restorative justice workshop in April last year that brought together prison
and civil society organization representatives from Africa and Europe to share
experiences and lessons in good rehabilitation practice. The single most
important outcome of the workshop was the Nairobi Declaration on which the work
of the year in review was based. This document is a set of good prisoner
rehabilitation practice that we hope to submit to the UN for international
recognition. Another important development from the workshop was formation of
an alliance in the UK
under the able hands of David Campbell. A small group made up of some of the
people at the workshop kindly agreed to join us in pursing a long-term
objective, registering RODI in the UK, whose realization will help in many ways
including international networking and linking.
Our appreciation goes to
prisoners who have not only benefited from our work but also passed it on to
other beneficiaries for the sake of reducing poverty, crime and re-offending.
We would like to thank, most sincerely, our development partners and Kenya
Prison Service for their support and encouragement. Last but not least, thanks
go to RODI members of staff for working very hard, maintaining vision and commitment
to take the organization to greater heights.
Chris M Ngatia, Chair Executive
Management Board
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