A new television show in New Zealand is following four popular musicians in that country as they teach songwriting and performing to inmates in Arohata and Rimutaka prisons.
“Songs from the Inside,” a 13-episode documentary, examines the role music plays in rehabilitation by giving the inmates an outlet and a way to express themselves.
A final, hour-long program on June 10 will reveal songs written and preformed by the seven inmates who completed the process. This will correspond to an album release, with the proceeds going to three different charities, including Prison Fellowship New Zealand.
“At the end of the day,” says Maisey Rika, one of the star musicans, “[the inmates] are going to be out among us and before that I’d rather they be around something positive rather than negative. That’s what we’re giving them – tools in music, tools in writing, tools in therapy. Write it out. Don’t lash out.”