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The IF Project (Advanced Program) · Spotlight English: Advanced

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Welcome to Spotlight Advanced. I'm Patrick Woodward.
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: And I'm Gillian Woodward. Sportlight uses a special English method
• 0:12
  Speaker 2: of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no
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  Speaker 2: matter where in the world they live.
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  Speaker 1: Around the world, there are almost twelve million people living
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  Speaker 1: in prison. Every country in the world has prisoners. However,
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  Speaker 1: one country has a big problem with prisons. It has
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  Speaker 1: almost seventeen percent of all the world's prisoners. It also
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  Speaker 1: has the world's highest prison population rate. This country is
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  Speaker 1: the United States of America.
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  Speaker 2: Experts have many reasons to explain why the rate is
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  Speaker 2: so high. They also have many different ideas about how
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  Speaker 2: they can decrease it. Some people want to fix the
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  Speaker 2: United States prison system by changing laws or making prison
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  Speaker 2: terms shorter. These ideas are very important. However, one female
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  Speaker 2: police officer named Kim Bogouki has another very different idea.
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  Speaker 2: She thinks that the prisoners have the solution. And Kim
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  Speaker 2: is asking prisoners one question that she thinks can change everything.
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  Speaker 3: If someone could have fared or done something that would
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  Speaker 3: have changed your path to prison, what would it have been.
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  Speaker 1: Today's Spotlight is on the If project.
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  Speaker 2: Kim Bogookie has been a police officer in Seattle, Washington
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  Speaker 2: for over twenty years. Her job is to work with
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  Speaker 2: the community to decrease crime. In two thousand and eight,
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  Speaker 2: Kim started working with a child mentoring program called Beyond Bars.
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  Speaker 2: This program's goal was to help young girls whose parents
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  Speaker 2: were in prison. The program helped by providing adult mentors
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  Speaker 2: for the girls. Mentors are adults who spend time with
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  Speaker 2: and support younger people. Mentors are also role models. They
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  Speaker 2: provide a positive example and influence for the children.
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  Speaker 1: Kim wanted the Beyond Bar's mentoring program to be successful.
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  Speaker 1: She understood that these girls were at great risk. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: in the United States, children of prisoners have a seventy
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  Speaker 1: percent chance of becoming prisoners themselves. So Kim decided to
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: learn more about how to support children of prisoners. However,
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  Speaker 1: Kim did not ask experts or read books about this subject. Instead,
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  Speaker 1: she decided to ask current prisoners the if question.
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  Speaker 2: So Kim visited the Washington Correction Center for Women in
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  Speaker 2: two thousand and eight. She asked the prisoners if someone
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  Speaker 2: could have said or done something that would have changed
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  Speaker 2: your path to prison, what would it have been. Kim
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  Speaker 2: thought the women would talk and discuss their answers together. However,
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  Speaker 2: the prisoners did not answer the question at all, so
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  Speaker 2: Kim finished talking to the prisoners and returned home.
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  Speaker 1: Months later, in May of two thousand and nine, Kim
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  Speaker 1: returned to the prison for another visit. When she arrived,
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  Speaker 1: she was surprised by a prisoner named Rinata Abramson. Rinata
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  Speaker 1: gave her many pieces of paper. You see, Rinata had
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  Speaker 1: been thinking a lot about the IF question. She had
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  Speaker 1: also encouraged many other prisoners to think about how they
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  Speaker 1: would answer the question. On each piece of paper that
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  Speaker 1: Renata gave Kim, a prisoner had written her answer to
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  Speaker 1: the IF question.
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  Speaker 2: Kim was shocked by the number of women that answered
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  Speaker 2: the question, and since that time, many hundreds of prisoners
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  Speaker 2: have written their answers to the question. Today, the IF
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  Speaker 2: Question has turned into the IF Project. The project has
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  Speaker 2: a website. On the website, people can read many of
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  Speaker 2: the prisoner's IF Question answers. The IF Project has also
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  Speaker 2: created a short film. The film shows eight female prisoners.
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  Speaker 2: The prisoners tell about their lives and read their answers.
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  Speaker 1: To the IF question.
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  Speaker 2: The purpose of this film is to help educate adult
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  Speaker 2: mentors and at risk children. The Women's stories show mentors
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  Speaker 2: how to better help children. The stories can also help
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  Speaker 2: the children learn from them. Mistakes of the Prisoners.
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  Speaker 1: Philimina is one of the women in the film. She
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  Speaker 1: is a forty year old prisoner in the Washington Correction
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  Speaker 1: Center for Women. She's been in prison for fifteen years
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  Speaker 1: and will stay in prison for the rest of her life.
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  Speaker 1: Philamina grew up in a wealthy area. She attended a
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  Speaker 1: very good school. However, she always felt different from the
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  Speaker 1: other children in her school. Philimina was the only Asian
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  Speaker 1: American in her school. She was also an only child
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  Speaker 1: of older parents. She never had many friends or even
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  Speaker 1: a brother or sister to talk to. After many years
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  Speaker 1: of trying to make friends at school, Philimina became friends
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  Speaker 1: with local criminal gang members. Philamina felt accepted by these
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  Speaker 1: gang members. However, they involved her in illegal drugs and crime,
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  Speaker 1: and her involvement in crime led her to prison. Philamina
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  Speaker 1: knows that she made terrible mistakes and did very wrong things.
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  Speaker 1: She accepts her responsibility for her crime. However, she also
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  Speaker 1: recognizes that one thing could have helped her. In her
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  Speaker 1: answer to the if question, Philmina wrote.
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  Speaker 4: I needed a friend and someone to trust. I needed communication,
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  Speaker 4: and someone to believe in me so that I could
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  Speaker 4: believe in myself. If I had this, I believe I
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  Speaker 4: would not be in prison for life.
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  Speaker 2: Philamina believes that just one good friend could have made
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  Speaker 2: a major difference in her life. She now recognizes that
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  Speaker 2: joining a gang was not the answer to her loneliness.
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  Speaker 4: She wrote, I do not know if this will help
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  Speaker 4: anyone ever, but if there is someone that reads this
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  Speaker 4: and feels like I did, I hope you find that
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  Speaker 4: person in your life before you end up like me.
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  Speaker 1: Every prisoner's answer to the if question is different. Each
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  Speaker 1: woman has a different life story. They each come from
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  Speaker 1: different places, different families, and different cultures. However, Kim Boguki
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  Speaker 1: says that there is a common issue in many of
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  Speaker 1: the prisoner's answers. Kim told the Real Change News organization.
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  Speaker 3: The common issue is the lack of a positive role
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  Speaker 3: model in their life, the lack of a person that
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  Speaker 3: would just listen.
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  Speaker 2: All countries deal with the issue of crime, and all
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  Speaker 2: countries want to decrease crime, But what can individual people
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  Speaker 2: do to help? Could asking the if question really prevent crime?
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  Speaker 1: Kim Boguki believes that knowing why people get in trouble
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  Speaker 1: is powerful. Mentors can use this information to make a
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  Speaker 1: positive difference in the lives of at risk children. In
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  Speaker 1: July of twenty ten, Kim was given a Community Service award.
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  Speaker 1: When she spoke with the organization that gave her the award,
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  Speaker 1: Kim said.
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  Speaker 3: I believe role models and mentors are one of the
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  Speaker 3: most important things in anyone's life, especially for children. In
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  Speaker 3: my work, I see a great difference in children who
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  Speaker 3: have a mentor or strong role model in their life.
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  Speaker 3: They have self respect and they desire to do good things.
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  Speaker 2: Who has been a positive role model in your life?
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  Speaker 2: What gives you hope when you have difficulties? For whom
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  Speaker 2: are you a positive role model? You can leave a
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  Speaker 2: comment on our website at www dot Spotlight English dot com.
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  Speaker 2: You can also find us on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Blue Sky,
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  Speaker 2: and x. You can also get our programs delivered directly
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  Speaker 2: to your Android or Apple device through our free official
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: Spotlight English app.
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  Speaker 1: The writer of this program and the producer were from
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: the Spotlight team. The voices you heard were from the
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  Speaker 1: United Kingdom and the United States. All quotes were adapted
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  Speaker 1: for this program and voiced by Spotlight. You can listen
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: to this program again and read it on the internet
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  Speaker 1: at www dot Spotlight English dot com. This program is
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: called the IF Project.
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  Speaker 2: We hope you can join us again for the next
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  Speaker 2: Spotlight program. Goodbye,