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"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. WE TALK ABOUT THE
FACT THAT WE CAN BE SOMEBODY WHO WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE."
-MEP STUDENT
Partnership Proposal Breaking the Chains of Gangsterism, Crime and Unemployment
RAISING UP GENERATIONS OF URBAN HEROES THROUGH ENTREPRENEURSHIP
CHAINS OF GANGSTERISM, CRIME AND UNEMPLOYMENT.
South African prisons (otherwise termed Correc6onal Facili6es) face a number of problems that
prevent the successful rehabilita6on of offenders. Overcrowding, prison gangs, rape and lack of
rehabilita6on programs have contributed to the cycle of crime and the high recidivism rate,
which ranges between 65-‐85%. The high levels of recidivism led to Correc6onal Services issuing
a white paper that encourages civil society organiza6ons to partner with them to help
rehabilitate offenders and in the paper they state, “correc6on remains a responsibility that is
shared by society” (Services, 2005, p. 4).
Addi6onally South Africa has the third highest youth employment rate in the world, which
contributes to ex-‐offenders struggling to find employment and becoming disillusioned once
released from prison. Without an interven6on at the level of economic reintegra6on ex-‐
offenders are likely to reoffend and return to prison and con6nue to drain the countries
resources. Re-‐offending costs the South African taxpayer R9, 875.35 a month per inmate.
The Message Entrepreneur Program (MEP) is modelled on the successful US Prison
Entrepreneur Program (PEP). MEP provides an intensive entrepreneurial course in prison to
help prepare youth offenders for employment and provide opportuni6es to incubate their own
businesses once released on parole. We provide a founda6on for young men prior to release
and our Message Trust AZercare and Enterprise programs con6nue to assist young men once
released. Message Enterprises offers employment opportuni6es to young men coming through
the MEP program. This provides a through care process of training and mentoring offenders in
prison through to their release and employment.
I WOULD RECOMMEND THAT ANYONE WHO HAS A CHANCE GO AND SEE WHAT IS HAPPENING IN OUR PRISON
SYSTEMS AND SUPPORT THESE GUYS, AS IT IS CLEAR TO SEE THAT THEY ARE MAKING A VISIBLE CHANGE TO THE
FUTURE OF THESE INMATES AND SOUTH AFRICA AS A WHOLE.
- MEP GUEST LECTURER & BUSINESS OWNER
OUR SOLUTION TO BREAKING THESE CHAINS
This rigorous “mini MBA” program is easily the most significant academic and personal
challenge that our par6cipants may ever face. The program involves over 1,000 hours of
classroom instruc6on over the period of 9 months, in addi6on to hundreds of hours of
homework, group assignments and public events with execu6ve volunteers.
During the class, key textbooks are used such as ‘The Lean Start Up’ and ‘Lean Entrepreneur’.
These are supplemented with classes on Harvard MBA case studies, current events, literature
and public speaking. Par6cipants complete this en6re workload while they each craZ a
business plan for a venture they could start upon their release from prison. Basic business
concepts are taught from the textbook and pop quizzes, impromptu presenta6ons and constant
feedback allow the men to learn both the theory and prac6cal applica6on of the material.
Par6cipants will ideally type their business plans on computers inside the unit, and staff
members download their files to be taken outside the prison. These files are then sent to
qualified volunteer Business Plan Advisors, each of whom is paired with an inmate par6cipant.
These Business Plan Advisors provide feedback on both the conceptual and gramma6cal
aspects of the business plans, which are then brought back into the prison for the inmates to
use to make their plans more realis6c and feasible. The idea is not to have the par6cipants
write business plans that are “good enough for an inmate.” These men create excellent
business plans that could rival those wricen by MBA-‐educated professionals. This is crucial,
since we plan to have a higher business-‐start rate than most college entrepreneurship
programs.
We also host prison events during the program, to which leading business execu6ves are
invited to listen to and provide feedback for sales pitches and investment presenta6ons. The
five-‐month teaching process culminates in the inmates’ crea6on of full business plans and
delivery of 30-‐minute oral presenta6ons to an execu6ve judging panel during a two-‐day
business plan compe66on and gradua6on ceremony. For many of the par6cipants, this may be
the biggest accomplishment of their lives and their first-‐ever gradua6on.
In addi6on to providing par6cipants with an “MBA boot camp,” prison instructors will also
spend about half of their efforts teaching life skills and decision-‐making. Case studies on real-‐
life situa6ons are used to inspire integrity and moral excellence. Life topics are diverse and
include interviewing techniques, dining e6quece, fatherhood, drug and alcohol abuse,
marriage, da6ng, respect for authority, spirituality and more.
One cri6cal aspect of the work will be the family reconcilia6on ini6a6ve. Each man in the
program will be allowed to offer four names of loved ones whom they would like the Program’s
Family Liaisons to contact during the course of the Class. The Family Liaisons will work to
educate our par6cipants’ loved ones about what their man is doing in the program, help them
to understand the commitment that he has made to living a transformed life and work with
them to agree to let him move into a transi6on homes aZer release. Addi6onally, the Family
Liaisons work to recruit these family members and loved ones to join us at the class gradua6on;
where efforts will be rewarded by hundreds of guests to cheer their man across the stage at the
gradua6on!
Program Overview
• 9 month program from Feb – November
• Facilitator of MEP – Jennifer Belcher. Jennifer has been a business coach in the Prison
Entrepreneurship Program in the US and has served on the business pitch panel of PEP
in Texas. Jennifer will be assisted by The Message In Prisons Team including Mark
Slessenger (M.A in Org Lead) and Preston Jongbloed (Prison Team Leader).
• Curriculum modules include: entrepreneurship, business plan development, financial
management, computer skills, public speaking, job readiness, character development,
leadership and spiritual development.
• MEP is currently being run in the pre-‐release unit in Drakenstein Youth Centre as a pro-‐
type with the vision to run the course yearly with juvenile offenders and poten6ally in
other Correc6onal Facili6es.
• MEP is running 4-‐hour classes, three 6mes a week. The course also runs ad hoc lectures
throughout the year to accommodate guest lecturers.
• MEP has a dedicated cell housing the 27 students who qualified for the program. The
students have been split into 5 mock companies and each student has been given a
specific role within the company.
Monitoring and Evaluation
All our students who are selected into MEP are monitored throughout the dura6on.
Monitoring con6nues aZer release and progress of each student is fed back to Correc6onal
Services.
Methods of monitoring and assis6ng the progress of each individual are as follows:
• Every student fills out an intensive applica6on form. This is essen6al in giving staff a deeper
insight into the individual’s current situa6on, family background and where they want to
progress.
• Message staff inform and visit each student’s family. This helps staff understand the
background of our students and whether they are going back to a stable environment and
helps us build rela6onships with the family.
• Staff submit a mid program and final report on the progress of each offender.
• Our staff submit quarterly reports to Correc6onal Services on the program.
• Every student is placed into a development plan where our aZercare team will follow up
ac6on points in and out of prison.
• Every offender is tracked once released. MEP students can qualify to be placed in our own
Enterprises on release (we currently own an ice-‐cream, merchandise & furniture enterprises).
Alterna6vely we will place students within our own Message Business Network (a group of
businesses we partner with).
THE THINGS YOU’VE BEEN SAYING, THE THINGS YOU’VE BEEN SPEAKING TO ME – THAT SOMEONE LIKE ME CAN DO GOOD IN THIS WORLD AND ACTUALLY BE SOMEBODY AND
MAKE A DIFFERENCE – I’VE NEVER HEARD ANYONE SAY THESE THINGS BEFORE AND THESE THINGS HAVE BEEN CHANGING ME ON THE INSIDE. I CAN’T FIND THE WORDS
TO EXPLAIN WHAT IS HAPPENING IN MY HEART, BUT I NEED YOU TO KNOW THAT SOMETHING IS HAPPENING.
— MEP STUDENT
PARTNER FOR A SAFER SOUTH AFRICA
MEP is an ini6a6ve that tackles some of the most challenging sta6s6cs that South Africa is
facing. High levels of youth unemployment and recidivism are causing a cycle of destruc6on
amongst our youth. MEP aims to provide real hope and opportunity to young men in prison
who are eager for a second chance. One offender costs the South African tax-‐payer over R9000
a month and MEP costs around R20, 000 for each offender to do a 9 month intensive course.
We believe this is an excellent investment that will reduce recidivism, unemployment and
enable young men to contribute to society rather than take from it. The long-‐term benefits are
huge as we envisage graduates from the course becoming employed, becoming tax-‐payers
themselves, employing other ex-‐offenders and bringing hope to those society has oZen wricen
off as hopeless and no good for society.
We trust you will partner with us in this ini6a6ve and make a significant impact on our society
in reducing crime and crea6ng employment.
WE SUPPORT AND ENDORSE THE MESSAGE ENTREPRENEURSHIP PROGRAMME, WHICH IS MAKING A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON THE LIVES OF OUR OFFENDERS. WE ARE THANKFUL FOR THE STORIES OF CHANGE THAT WE HAVE SEEN THROUGH OUR WORKING RELATIONSHIP
WITH THE MESSAGE TRUST.
— H.J.JUMAATS, HEAD OF DEVELOPMENT AND CARE, DRAKENSTEIN MANAGEMENT
The Message Trust Registration Information
Trust Number IT4/2014 Non-‐Profit Number 133-‐638 PBO Number 930046622 Sec6on 18A Status Contact Mark Slessenger Email [email protected] Cell 0842922232 Office 021 447 3345 Web www.message.org.za
Annual Report hcp://www.message.org.za/new-‐page-‐1/
