Letters for those behind bars keep hopes up

A group of former inmates are holding workshops to teach people how to write letters to people who are incarcerated, to offer them support and encouragement through their tough times in custody.

Prisoners are commonly plagued with loneliness and isolation, and letters are not just a way for them to stay in touch with family and friends, but also a means for them to feel valued and supported.

Rizzy Pennelli, who was jailed for over three years for an explosives-making plot in Sai Kung in 2015, knows full well the importance of such letters to inmates.

“My happiest time in jail was when the staff handed out letters to us, like a postman. We would open our ears and rushed out when our numbers were called. That was the warmest moment of the day… I would get a bit jealous if my friends got some nice-looking letters,” he recounted.

The now-released man is living a new life as a fitness trainer, but he is not leaving his time in prison behind.

He is helping other ex-convicts become fitness trainers like himself and taking his turn to write letters to those imprisoned, particularly people who have long sentences, have little or no visitors or are foreigners.

Pennelli and another ex-convict, Kerry, shared their experiences about letter-writing to prisoners with volunteers who attended their workshop before the Lunar New Year.

Kerry said some people don’t think she should keep in touch with friends she met in prison, but she hopes she can encourage others with her own experience.

“The importance of a letter to inmates, that surprise and that moving feeling… I felt like opening a bottle of champagne when I received a letter. I still remember a photo I received, with my friends photoshopping me into a photo of their gathering,” she said.

“If I ignore my friends who are still inside after I am free, it would feel like they’re being abandoned. I have experienced what they feel, and inmates are also human,” she said.

A participant at the workshop, barrister Aaron, said being a pen-pal with inmates can help him understand life in prison.

“I copied some lyrics from a song called ‘Solitude’ and wrote them in my letter. This song has accompanied me through a lot of lonely times, and I hope it can give the receiver some strength,” he said.

Prison rights concern group Wall-fare, which provides pen-pals matching for inmates, reminded people to pay attention to guidelines set by prisons when they mail in letters, such as bans on slogans, glitter or correction fluid.