Bogdan is a 26-year-old man who chose to be a mentor and a guide for teenagers in detention facilities. He does this in his spare time, after job (he works in construction domain). Also, in his spare time he works for the Ambulance Service of Gorj county.
Bogdan was released from Craiova Detention Centre two years ago, and ever since he has been participating in Terre des hommes project activities. Bogdan realised how important it is for detained young people to receive guidance and advice from someone who was like them. For this reason, he chose to be a mentor for the ones who are still there, helping them to understand and not to make mistakes again. He believes in the power of personal example, therefore he goes to them in order to tell them how he succeeded, to show them that social reintegration after detention is possible. Bogdan became a mentor following a set of training sessions delivered to him by Terre des hommes specialists.
He told us about him, his activities with imprisoned young people and his achievements in a brief interview offered to our Foundation.
- Why did you want to become a mentor for detained young people?
I chose to become a mentor for teenagers in detention centres because I had a similar experience in the past and I felt by myself the problems and obstacles they face. I chose to do this in order to help them understand the main priorities they have to set to be free.
- What about your social reintegration experience? How did you manage?
I was a lucky case. I got to the detention centre being the victim of a legal error, therefore I had no problem to rehabilitate, because my behaviour did not require rehabilitation. I got over this situation and I took it as a life lesson from which I had a lot to learn. In time, I met wonderful people with whom I built extraordinary relationships and I do wonderful things.
- Are you satisfied with what you do now?
I can say I live the most wonderful period of my life. I have a very good job where I do what I like and where I can develop. My income is beyond what I dreamt of in the past. In parallel, I collaborate with Terre des hommes Foundation where I am happy that I can help and I can support the teenagers who really need persons like the Foundation staff. I have a wonderful family, everything is perfect.
- What would you like to do in future?
In future I want to develop more, to increase my family incomes and help as much as possible. I want to do this because I received a lot of help from my family, and beside family, from many people I did not even expect to help me.
- For how long have you been working as a mentor with young people from detention centres?
My career as a mentor began three months after release from detention. For a year and a half I was a volunteer mentor, and for four month I have been a collaborative mentor.
- How do you work with detained teenagers, what do you advise them?
I rely very much on my success story and with this I hope to motivate them. My advice to them is what I wish I had received when I was like them. I am very happy that I manage to earn their trust with each session and I manage to get them open up. That’s how I have been able to go with them through the curricula provided by Terre des hommes coordinator.
- Have you noticed any change for the better since you started the sessions?
Yes, firstly, in every session, they are very interested to find out how they too can succeed. Indeed, this not the case for all, but quite a few are really interested and hopefully we will gain more of them down the road.
- What are they planning to do after release from the centre? Do they trust that they will easily reintegrate into society?
Most of them come from and will return into disorganised families, and for this reason many would like to get a job in order to sustain themselves and have a better life. With regard to school, they believe that the right time has passed and they cannot recover it. There is a fear of reintegration, and we try to discuss more about this in order to convince them that social reintegration is possible, but only through work.
