"The giant brought me to his home, a school which was off from the outside world. There were many people who had almost gone astray like me and had been saved by the giant. Every day, the giant helped us find the cause of our going astray, and taught us knowledge, techniques and the way to make friends. We supported ourselves by our own labor......"
This is a selected paragraph of the story "Giant," written by Zong Youju, a woman prisoner in Jiangsu Province. The story won the highest prize in a contest in which 1,500 prisoners from more than 20 countries including the United States, Britain and France participated. The theme of the contest was anti-illiteracy in the year 2000, and turning over a new leaf.
Thirty-year-old Zong Youju came from Hubei Province. She started taking drugs in 1994. Later she lost her family fortune and became a drug dealer. In May 1998, she was arrested by local police during a drug deal and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. With the help of police, however, Zong turned from her evil ways and was restored to health. She started learning and working.
On March 4 this year, a policewoman brought a pictorial poster promoting the writing contest to the prisoners and asked them to write stories by giving free rein to their imagination.
"I think the picture is just based on me," said Zong at the prize-presentation ceremony held on August 15. "In the picture, a person is walking toward the book dejectedly, while trees are withered and the sky is gray. When the person emerges from the book looking happy, the trees are green and the sky is blue. When I first came to the prison, I was terribly downhearted."
"The policemen and policewomen educated me and gradually filled me full of confidence for life. The prison is like a book and school," said Zong with feeling.
The picture reminded Zong of her painful experience. Finally, a fairy tale she read in her childhood gave her inspiration. She decided to write the story in the form of fairy tale titled "Giant".
"I write what I want to say. Heroin is a devil leading me to death, while the police represent the giant saving my soul, and the prison is the big book magically turning the decayed to wholesomeness again," said Zong.
The appraisal committee, comprising experts from UNESCO and nine countries, including the United States, Canada, France, Britain and South Africa, was deeply impressed by her story and presented the highest prize to Zong alone. The Hangzhou local court reduced Zong's penalty by one and half years as an encouragement.
Contests to attract written works from prisoners are considered one of the achievements of prison education in the world, according to the authorities concerned. Zong Youju's success has been highly appraised by international society as China's outstanding efforts in this field.
(CIIC)
