Brazil is currently the Latin American country with the largest outbreak of COVID-19, counting more than 2 million cases and almost 85,000 deaths, as of July 24.
“We believe that at some point we will beat this virus, but while it is among us we need to join forces with our community to fight it,” says Silva Junior, who is in his eighth year of a 45-year sentence at the Januaria APAC in Minas Gerais. “Deprived of liberty in social isolation, we are redeeming our sentence with a heart turned to all people who cry out for life, especially those most in need.”
In conjunction with the “Humanize Prison Sentences, Promote Life” project, AVSI and FBAC are promoting the APAC method, which has had astounding success at rehabilitating inmates and to denounce the rampant abuse and violence in Brazil’s prison system.
“The APAC method promotes the inmate’s social reintegration and leads to concrete and positive results for the whole of society,” says Sabatiello. “In Brazil’s penitentiary system, the violence amplifies the problem instead of solving it.”
The Association for Protection and Assistance to Convicts (APAC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to the recovery and social reintegration of prisoners. The APAC method believes that humanizing the experience of prison life contributes to the successful rehabilitation of the individual into society. “Humanize Prison Sentences, Promote Life” gets to the heart of this mission.
“Who knows? Maybe this is our legacy, using our hands to do good,” wonders Alisson Tomas Zanetti, who is serving his 14-year sentence at the São João del Rei APAC in Minas Gerais.