Education and Transformation for a Changed Life

In an article from The Philippine Times, Dr. J. Prospero (Popoy) de Vera III, the former Chair of the Commission on Higher Education wrote or his support for College Education Behind Bars, a sister endeavor that Minority Care International students support in service learning capacities. De Vera remarked, "I highlighted an excellent initiative happening in the Davao area – the College Education Behind Bars (CEBB). Dr. Aland Mizell and Atty. Susan Cariaga from the Social Entrepreneurship Technology and Business Institute worked with public universities and government agencies to create the CEBB at the Davao City Jail and the Davao Prison and Penal Farm. The CEBB experience demonstrates that while justice holds individuals accountable, it must also enable them to change. It requires responsibility for misconduct but also trusts in a person’s ability to start anew." The transformation of students outside the prison, like the work among those inside, is at the heart of MCI's mission, to give them opportunities to gain a college education but simultaneously to understand that living a successful life entails knowing their God-given value, abilities, and purpose and acting upon them.