Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Prisoners incarcerated at Samoa’s Tanumalala prison are earning several hundreds of tala while serving time.   

These are convicted criminals who’ve spent years and months without seeing families, and friends, but gradually become income earners by participating full time in different community programs introduced into the prison compound at Tanumalala.  

The ongoing rehabilitation program is directed by High Chief Motunuu Mikaele Teofilo along with Samoa’s Deputy Commissioner of Police and Prison, Leiataua Samuelu Afamasaga.  

The Teuila Festival 2023 in Samoa gives the rehab program another chance to expose the cultural perspective of their production range and showcase their current images and personalities.

The inmates are selling more than 200 pieces of art occupying two medium sized tents specifically set up at the Samoa Tourism malae for small businesses from the  community this whole week .    

On display from the inmates are a variety of colorful canvas paintings of public figures like Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa and tropical flowers,  wood carvings of ava bowls, special bowls for traditional cooking outside (umete), talking sticks and a variety of handicrafts produced from coconut leaves, bandanas, and cloth material with elei printing.

 Motunuu said only 20 inmates are selected for the program at a time, and when some of them leave after serving their time, they are replaced. Participants are trained by community experts, who are mostly volunteers.

The program focuses on occupying their time constructively — especially as there’s so much time that needs to be taken over by constructive developments of the mind, said Motunuu, instead of allowing them space that may lead to more trouble.

These men and women need to live meaningful lives when released, he said.

The handicrafts vary in cost from $10, $50, $100, $200, $250, $300 and more. Motunuu said, the program takes in 60 % to buy more materials such as paint brushes, canvas, and treated woods to sustain the program while the participating inmate receives 40 percent from each piece sold.

This year, during the Teuila Festival 2023 held in Apia, Samoa, inmates at Tanumalala, one of the country’s three prisons, sold products they made during the ongoing Rehabilitation Program. Items sold included paintings, i’e elei, carvings, sculptures, furniture, tanoa, pate, and other items. Last year, during a special exhibition and auction — the Taumeasina Exhibition — displayed and sold the inmates creations. The art exhibit was held at Taumeasina Island resort at Moataa, where they’ve collected SAT $10,800. Proceeds from the art exhibit have helped not only the inmates when they are released from prison, but the rehabilitation program has also helped feed the prison population of all three of Samoa’s prisons — as they now have a herd of cattle. [photo: AT]

Selling the handicrafts in public places, is the result of a successful exhibition and auction held about this time last year at Taumeasina Island resort at Moataa, where they collected $10,800.

The Taumeasina exhibition was a combined effort by Samoa's Senior Judge, Justice Vui Clarence Nelson and the British High Commission office in Apia.

According to Justice Nelson at the time, the art exhibition would be unique as it would “portray repentance and apologies by the inmates for their unlawful decisions, which led them to Tanumalala.”

“This is one way for you to make amends for your mistakes, by painting or reading the Bible, let it be your apology to God, to the country and to the law you’ve broken,” he said.

In the past years, they’ve been holding end -of -the -year exhibitions in jail, until the COVID 19 lock down. This year they’re planning to push the jail exhibition forward to November to avoid the rainy season.

This year, during the Teuila Festival 2023 held in Apia, Samoa, inmates at Tanumalala, one of the country’s three prisons, who participated in an ongoing Rehabilitation Program, are selling the fruits of their labor and creativity to the public. The products are paintings, i’e elei, carvings, sculptures, furniture, and other handcraft items. The money made from the sales are split 60% back to support the program and the prison communities, while 40% goes to the inmate as earned income when they are released from prison. [photo: AT]

According to the director, as of Tuesday afternoon (last week), they’ve collected close to $2,000, adding the program will take three years to be able to stand on its own two feet, and they are grateful to the office of the British High Commissioner and local business SSAB for the initiative.

The other success of this program is the trust between officers and inmates, and plenty of food now available for all — where no one goes hungry, for the 300 at Tanumalala plus about 100 at Olomau Mulifanua and Vaiaata.

They have close to 140 cattle at Tanumalala and are able to have one during special times of the year, like Father’s day and Christmas.

This year, during the Teuila Festival 2023 held in Apia, Samoa, inmates at Tanumalala, one of the country’s three prisons, sold products they made during an ongoing Rehabilitation Program to the public. Items sold  included paintings, i’e elei, carvings, sculptures, furniture, tanoa, pate, and other items. The money made from the sales are split 60% to support the program, while 40% goes to the inmate as earned income when they are released from prison. [photo: AT]

Motunuu noted, however, that no matter how good the program goes, there are still a few — one, two or three black sheep.  But the rehabilitation program has already borne fruit for some of the released inmates, who now own their own small businesses — after serving time in Tanumalala prison — in one of those seven long buildings that have only two doors. 

Each building is one open room that can hold up to more than 20 inmates at a time. It has windows and also bathrooms. One of those buildings holds the females who are also participants in the rehabilitation program.

Tanumalala prison officially opened in 2019, and in 2022 was said to have  more than 400 inmates, including, Juvenile delinquents; women, and men but in separate wings. The prison is overcrowded as each block is suppose to house up to 50 inmates.