Entrepreneurship for 27 Prisoners in South Africa

 ‘We have changed. We are starting to think differently and talk differently. We talk about business in the room instead of gangsterism. We talk about changing our communities.’- MEP Student 

The quote above sums up what MEP meant to our students in 2015. It was a truly remarkable year! MEP was piloted for the first time in March 2015 and it excelled all our expectations. I always say to people who show interest in MEP "come and see" as it is hard to explain in words the change and transformation we are seeing in our students and in Drakenstein youth prison.

During 2015 each of our students went through intensive business skills training, character and leadership development, and counselling and pastoral support. 25 young men graduated at the end of the year, pitching their business plans and blowing away our panels of business advisors and investors with their communication skills and presentations.

On the 1st of February we launched our 2016 MEP programme which includes 19 second year & 9 first year students. Whilst piloting the programme in 2015 we realised that MEP was a two year programme, first year theory based and second year practical based. This year our second year students will be launching four new MEP enterprises in the prison - a public speaking enterprise, a creative band enterprise, a radio enterprise and a training enterprise. This will give our students practical expierence in marketing, recruitment, project management, communication skills and fundraising. 

We would like to thank each one of you for investing into the MEP initiative and for partnering with us in breaking the chains of crime, gangsterism and unemployment in South Africa. MEP is doing this one life at a time and it is exciting and encouraging to see the growth and development in each one of our students.

I would like to finish this report by sharing about two of our MEP graduates who were released last year. Faroll Moses (pictured below) was released in October and continued to come to prison to finish the course. Faroll was also employed part-time as an apprentice in our Message Enterprise department called Gangstar Enterprises (no longer gangsters but Gangstar's). We have recently taken on Faroll full time as an apprentice and he will be assiting us in our current businesses that help employ young people out of prison. It has been encouraging to witness Faroll's hunger to learn and grow spiritually, emotionally, socially and in business. 

Secondly we were priveledged to visit Ernesto who was our second graduate released from MEP. Ernesto developed his business plan and pitch on his father's farming business which is harvesting dry beans for the export market in Holland. Ernesto has been implementing a lot of his learning from MEP in the family business. We have also been encouraged to see him also involved in his community and running community community projects with young people. 

We believe this is just the start and our prayer and desire is to see each one of our graduates follow in Faroll and Ernesto's footsteps and become leaders in their families, communities and nation. If this happens the future is bright for South Africa and the young people we work with in prisons. 

Thank you for your support,

THE MEP TEAM.

The MEP 2015 Impact:

• 2 Students have been released and both have been employed and successfully reintegrated into society.
• There has been zero gang activity recorded in the programme.
• Students have been trained as peer educators and are mentoring and educating other offenders in Drakenstein.
• Development of four new enterprises in prison that will be launched in 2016 and have been approved by Correctional Services.
• Each student has developed their own business plan and delivered a business pitch to potential investors.
• Each student was trained in public speaking through Toastmasters curriculum and delivered 5 speeches to various audiences.
• Bridging the business world to assist in rehabilitation. In 2015 we had numerous business owners and employees facilitate guest lectures in MEP. This had a significant impact on their perceptions of young people in prison.

MEP Goals for 2016:

• 1 Halfway home for up to 4 ex-offenders by December 2016.
• Launch and implement four enterprise concepts inside prison, each upskilling 5 inmates by August 2016.
• Develop 1 inside prison mentorship team by June 2016.
• Full MEP curriculum packaged and available across all four components (business, emotional, social and spiritual) by November 2016.
• Have an employment/educational opportunity for every MEP student in place, on release.

Links:

• MEP Website
• Message Trust Website
• Gangstar Enterprises Website