An initiation taken up by the students of Bachelors in Social Work (BSW), who are placed as trainees at the Central Jail in Sundhara, the exhibition was a showcase of the crafts that the inmates created. Bead purses, accessories, woolen crafts and woven stools were some of the crafts that were exhibited at this one-day event, which aimed to help the inmates by giving the skills they learnt, a platform.
The students spend two days a week at the prison, interacting with the inmates and also providing English tuition classes.
“We did a need assessment and came to the conclusion that the prisoners had the training and the skills but lacked a market to sell their products. Hence, we decided to create a platform, however small, to help,” says Anju Lamichhane, a third year student.
“This exhibition is a promotion of the skills and efforts of the inmates,” added in Shreya Singh Bhandari, a first year student.
Lamichhane further informed that the exhibition had two-fold objectives. One was to help in the economic aspect, and the other to try and fight the stigma that prisoners have to go through. “We’re encouraging the ‘hate the crime, not the criminal’ approach,” said Lamichhane.
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