65. SERVING LIFE

all i can say is WOW!  louisiana maximum security prison at angola is the largest such prison in the country, with over 5000 inmates.  prisoners described as "the worst of the worst", 85% of whom will never again live outside its walls.  faced with an aging population of lifers at the end of life, the warden established an active hospice program,  believing that no one should die alone, that each deserves compassionate care at the end of life.  but more so maybe, is witnessing the transformation in the volunteer hospice workers.  the film follows the journey of 4 new hospice volunteers, who wrote letters asking to be considered, completed a face to face interview, 2 wk training program and then began the work of caring for fellow inmates at the end of life.  the inmate volunteers see this as a chance for redemption.  instead of watching another person die at their hand, they feed, bathe, perform hygiene and comfort the dying.  they are all obviously changed by this experience of thinking outside themselves.  as the warden notes, criminals are very self centered, by nature of crime itself.  we see death; we see sadness; we see frustration; we see repugnance.....all the while, we see compassionate care in a loving, supportive environment and we hear the voices of the dying as well as the caregivers as they balance the crimes that got them in to prison with the compassion that they learn due to the hospice experience.  i cried many times.  some of the most touching scenes for me was inmate hospice volunteer, steve, fabricating quilts for the dying.  the film is powerful.  it's hopeful.  it raised the question to me about how many other such programs like this are in prison settings.  the warden here says if he teaches skills to the inmates, he just makes stronger criminals.  if he teaches compassion and empathy, he builds stronger human beings.  certainly those that were featured here seem forever changed for the better.