In the penitentiary of the city of Florida, in Uruguay , thirteen inmates are participating in a carpentry course promoted as part of the Ripartire-social reintegration project, supported by AMU.
This initiative, through manual labor, offers opportunities for personal growth, social reintegration, and the possibility of rebuilding family ties.
The workshop is an educational experience, but it’s also much more. The thirteen “students” learn to transform wood into useful objects.
For many of them, it’s their first experience with professional tools and techniques, while for others, it’s a way to build on skills they’ve already acquired in the workplace.
Not just furniture
The program offered to inmates aims to provide practical knowledge useful for the future—they will have a potential career once they leave prison—but at the same time it strengthens their self-confidence, valuing commitment, precision, responsibility, and the opportunity to see the fruits of their labor.
The carpentry shop thus becomes a space where not only furniture is built: pieces of identity are recomposed, hopes are rekindled, and new beginnings are imagined.
Rebuilding family ties
Confirming the value of this experience was a small internal survey: an anonymous questionnaire administered to course students in recent weeks. The responses collected—according to the prison director—were “totally honest.”
Eleven out of thirteen participants said they felt motivated to learn, hoping this training could open real career paths. One of them expressed a desire to build a bookstore.
But what is most striking is that eight inmates have chosen to donate what they are creating to a family member .
A gesture that reveals a deep desire to maintain emotional ties, even within prison walls. For some, it’s even a matter of seizing this opportunity as a chance to rebuild a bond that may have been broken.
Hope for the “after”
The inmates’ responses clearly demonstrate their desire for a tool that will allow them to reenter the workforce. The possibility of rebuilding their professional lives arouses in them a sincere emotion, full of hope and a desire for change.