Welcome to the United Nations

Ex-convict to entrepreneur: Judith’s story

Life after prison may seem like a daunting prospect. But 22-year-old former inmate and mother-of-two, Judith Ngouvela, quickly found her feet after incarceration – thanks to vocational training she received while behind bars, with the support of the UN peacekeeping mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA).

Judith worked as a hairdresser and charcoal vendor to support herself before her life took a turn for the worse.

A silver lining

It was while serving a year and three-month long prison sentence at the Bimbo women’s jail located on the outskirts of the country’s capital Bangui that fortune smiled upon her – despite her somber circumstances.

She jumped at the opportunity to retrain as a tailor – one of several short-term vocational courses offered to inmates – through the MINUSCA Justice and Corrections section, in partnership with the Central African Ministry of Justice. Objective: to promote the social reintegration of ex-convicts through livelihoods such as plumbing, carpentry and the manufacture of solar ovens. The training is also aimed at reducing recidivism rates.

“When I saw other inmates learning how to sew and knit, I decided not to waste all my time thinking in my cell and I went out to join them,” she says.

A new livelihood

The young apprentice showed promise; and her trainers took note.

Once out of jail, she was offered a part-time position teaching other inmates at the same institution where she was once confined. 

“I make children’s knitwear, and I teach inmates at the Bimbo prison how to knit. It was in prison that I learned this trade. MINUSCA staff at the prison were really happy with my work, so they asked me to come back and train others because of my professional expertise,” says a radiant Judith.

Making it on her own

Today, Judith relishes her freedom and a fledgling career as an entrepreneur.

“I have been teaching these classes for three months now. It allows me to earn some money to take care of my family,” she reveals. She uses her time away from the classroom to make knitted garments for sale. 

Her new enterprise is not without teething problems however: “A major stumbling block is the fact that when I am at the Bimbo prison, I work with a machine and when I return home, I have no choice but to do it all by hand.”

Buoyed by her recent good fortune, Judith harbors grand dreams for the future. She hopes a good Samaritan out there can help her acquire her own equipment: “Owning a machine will allow me to open a workshop and settle down to provide for my needs and enable me to pass on the skills I have acquired to others who are interested in this profession, so that they too can become independent and contribute to the development of our country.”

Today, the mother-of-two cannot help but marvel at the turnaround in her life. She thought her life was over when she was sentenced to prison; it turns out that might have been just the start of great things to come.