 In May 2009, ICPKP student Belinda Pestana had the privilege of visiting Leeuwkop Prison, north of Johannesburg, South Africa. She was there to witness the wonderful transformation being worked in the lives of inmates by ICPKP Faculty member, Gabby Fels, principal of SAKPC.
Belinda had attended a lecture by Dr Bruce Dewe at the Australasian College of Kinesiology Mastery in late April and had heard Dr Dewe speak of the amazing work Gabby Fels was doing in South Africa. Coincidentally, Belinda was due to fly to South Africa the following week and took the opportunity to arrange a last-minute meeting with Gabby before flying out.
Belinda says;
"It was so lovely to meet such a warm and generous person and to hear her story. What struck me was how Gabby's passion for what she is doing has surpassed so many obstacles... to initially start her work at Leeuwkop, it's amazing that she didn't give up!"
To Belinda's surprise, Gabby invited her to come to the next prison workshop, an opportunity not to be missed! She was amazed at the wonderful reception they got from staff, guards and inmates alike; clearly everyone recognised the positive difference Gabby's program was making. She was equally amazed that the guards were happy to leave her and Gabby alone with their class. Clearly it was safe enough to do so, further evidence of the effect of PKP and the rapport Gabby had built with her students. Belinda describes the experience:
"When Gabby introduced me to her students, I felt quite overwhelmed by how welcoming they were. I was offered one of the scarce chairs to sit on (there were only about 4 chairs in the room so everyone else was on the floor) and one of the students even offered to give me their manual to use. Gabby had to speak to someone mid-way through the initial roll-call so I enjoyed the privilege of doing this for her while she stepped out of the room... Bearing in mind, I'd only been there literally 5 minutes, there I was alone with all these men, doing roll-call. This told me how much Gabby trusted her students with me and it was really humbling."
On Gabby's return, it was time for class to begin:
"The most memorable part for me was when Gabby demonstrated how to do a meridian massage. Initially she demonstrated on this really huge, muscular guy who was also about 6.3 foot tall! He closed his eyes and was, as I would call it, simply in a 'standing trance'. When she asked him how that felt for him, he said, with so much surprise in his voice, 'that was sooooo relaxing'. I then wondered how long it might have been for him since he had last had the opportunity to feel a moment of peace within himself... and I was struck by how amazing it might have been for him to experience that, even for just one moment, within the prison environment."
For Belinda, this was a life-changing experience. She was able to see first hand the outworking of the Dewe's dream for PKP amongst a group of people who need it most. She says,
"For those few hours at Leeuwkop, I was not sitting with 'hardened criminals'... I was sitting with men in a prison environment who were 'free'... and that is an experience I will remember and treasure for the rest of my life."
Please click here to read Belinda's full account of her time with Gabby Fels at Leeuwkop Prison.
To find out more about her work at Leeuwkop prison, please contact Gabby Fels.
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