Knowledge without Borders Aims for Rehabilitation through Reading

A delegation from Knowledge without Borders (KwB), the Sharjah based cultural project, recently visited the Department of Punitive and Reformatory Establishments in Sharjah. On the agenda for the meeting was the effective rehabilitation of criminals through the habit of reading, with the aim being to successfully reintroduce them into society as model citizens.

Headed by Rashid Al Kous, General Manager of KwB, the project’s representatives met with Colonel Khalifa Al Marri, Director of Punitive Reformatory Establishment at Sharjah Police and Colonel Ahmed Abdul Aziz Shuhail, Deputy Director of the Department of Punitive and Reformatory Establishment at Sharjah Police, as well as with a number of the department’s officials, to discuss joint cooperation.

The meeting was initiated as a tangible manifestation of the vision of His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, to care for offenders and was in alignment with the departments’ strategic goal, which is to reform inmates and rehabilitate them physically, psychologically, socially and legally. Specific to its agenda, the department’s need for books, library and workshop facilities were discussed during the meeting.

The visit saw the KwB delegation given a tour of the inmates’ library, which comprises 500 titles in a variety of genres; including religion, culture, science and history, with its titles available in several languages, the most popular being English, Urdu, Arabic, Bengali, Russian and Tamil. Following the review of its operations, KwB agreed to supply the library with a group of books written by His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, which have been translated into different languages. The delegation also verified the procedures for providing the department’s kindergarten with a collection of books tailored to children aged up to two years.

“Our visit to the Department of Punitive and Reformatory Establishments in Sharjah furthers the activities and efforts of KwB, which seek to promote a culture of reading among all members of the community and establish it as a daily habit. We consider the department’s inmates to be a part of the community and that it is our duty to care for them and rehabilitate them so that they can go back into society as good citizens who are willing to contribute to its advancement,” said Rashid Al Kous, General Manager of KwB.

“During the meeting we discussed a number of issues, one of which was to determine the type of books that best meet the needs of inmates. It was agreed that these should be different from the books distributed by KwB to Emirati families in Sharjah, since the majority of inmates are of foreign and non-Arab nationalities. We also talked about the design of the department’s libraries and decided that they should align with the six halls in the new building, which will be inaugurated by His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah in the next few years,” he added.

Al Kous praised the cultural activities organised within the department, especially the monthly bulletin, a magazine published by the department’s cultural committee, which is made up of a group of inmates supervised by the department’s management. He also complimented the e-library and highlighted its importance in providing a variety of educational material covering the areas of religion, literature, science and culture.

KwB’s visit to the Department of Punitive and Reformatory Establishments reflected the organisation’s belief in the importance of caring for those who have transgressed in their lives and to reform and rehabilitate them through reading and cultural initiatives. The meeting concluded with a package of recommendations, most notably that KwB would organise workshops for inmates who have the talent for writing and illustration and give them the chance to participate and profit from the ‘1001 Titles’ initiative, which aims to publish 1,001 titles throughout the UAE this year and the next. Another key recommendation was to start preparing a plan for narrative reading and reading therapy for the inmates, which KwB will implement. 

“In line with 2016 being declared the Year of Reading by His Highness President of the UAE and the directives of His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, to promote a culture of reading, we are keen to be a part of this unique project which aims to reform and rehabilitate inmates and blend them back into society as law abiding individuals. Establishing a library in the department which meets modern standards will spread forgiveness, encourage communication and provide spiritual and intellectual nourishment for our inmates,” said Colonel Khalifa Al Marri, Director of the Department of Punitive and Reformatory Establishments. 

KwB was launched as an initiative by His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah and is closely supervised and supported by Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Head of its Organising Committee. The initiative aims to establish reading as a habit in every household in the UAE by encouraging the establishment of home libraries and supplying these libraries with the best books in a variety of genres suitable for all the family.