1
00:00:01,010 --> 00:00:04,578
When I heard those bars

2
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slam hard,

3
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I knew it was for real.

4
00:00:11,810 --> 00:00:14,750
I feel confused.

5
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I feel betrayed.

6
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I feel overwhelmed.

7
00:00:22,010 --> 00:00:24,731
I feel silenced.

8
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What just happened?

9
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How could they send me here?

10
00:00:32,303 --> 00:00:35,914
I don't belong here.

11
00:00:35,914 --> 00:00:39,782
How could they make such a huge mistake

12
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without any repercussions
whatsoever to their actions?

13
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I see large groups of women

14
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in tattered uniforms

15
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surrounded by huge walls and gates,

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enclosed by iron barbed wires,

17
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and I get hit by an awful stench,

18
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and I ask myself,

19
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how did I move

20
00:01:08,288 --> 00:01:14,377
from working the respected
financial banking sector,

21
00:01:14,377 --> 00:01:18,233
having worked so hard in school,

22
00:01:18,233 --> 00:01:21,116
to now being locked up

23
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in the largest correctional facility

24
00:01:24,283 --> 00:01:28,012
for women in Kenya?

25
00:01:28,012 --> 00:01:30,011
My first night

26
00:01:30,011 --> 00:01:33,446
at Langatta Women
Maximum Security Prison

27
00:01:33,446 --> 00:01:36,616
was the toughest.

28
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In January of 2009,

29
00:01:39,711 --> 00:01:44,374
I was informed that I had handled
a fraudulent transaction unknowingly

30
00:01:44,374 --> 00:01:47,583
at the bank where I worked.

31
00:01:47,583 --> 00:01:51,482
I was shocked, scared, and terrified.

32
00:01:51,482 --> 00:01:57,494
I would lose a career
that I loved passionately.

33
00:01:57,494 --> 00:02:01,024
But that was not the worst.

34
00:02:01,024 --> 00:02:02,905
It even got worse

35
00:02:02,905 --> 00:02:06,154
than I could have ever imagined.

36
00:02:06,154 --> 00:02:08,685
I got arrested,

37
00:02:08,685 --> 00:02:10,756
maliciously charged

38
00:02:10,756 --> 00:02:12,326
and prosecuted.

39
00:02:14,700 --> 00:02:18,984
The absurdity of it all
was the arresting officer

40
00:02:18,984 --> 00:02:24,598
asking me to pay him 10,000 US dollars

41
00:02:24,598 --> 00:02:28,127
and the case would disappear.

42
00:02:28,127 --> 00:02:30,826
I refused.

43
00:02:30,826 --> 00:02:33,674
Two and a half years on,

44
00:02:33,674 --> 00:02:36,096
in and out of courts,

45
00:02:36,096 --> 00:02:39,311
fighting to prove my innocence,

46
00:02:39,311 --> 00:02:41,810
it was all over the media,

47
00:02:41,810 --> 00:02:45,949
in the newspapers, TV, radio,

48
00:02:45,949 --> 00:02:48,711
they came to me again.

49
00:02:48,711 --> 00:02:51,858
This time around, said to me,

50
00:02:51,858 --> 00:02:56,856
"If you give us 50,000 US dollars

51
00:02:56,856 --> 00:03:01,415
the judgement will be in your favor,"

52
00:03:01,748 --> 00:03:06,883
irrespective of the fact
that there was no evidence whatsoever

53
00:03:06,883 --> 00:03:08,962
that I had any wrongdoing

54
00:03:08,962 --> 00:03:13,528
on the charges that I was up against.

55
00:03:13,528 --> 00:03:16,011
I remember the events

56
00:03:16,011 --> 00:03:18,216
of my conviction

57
00:03:18,216 --> 00:03:20,777
six years ago

58
00:03:20,777 --> 00:03:23,611
as if it were yesterday.

59
00:03:23,611 --> 00:03:27,209
The cold, hard face of the judge

60
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as she pronounced my sentence

61
00:03:30,187 --> 00:03:32,995
on a cold Thursday morning

62
00:03:32,995 --> 00:03:37,760
for a crime that I hadn't committed.

63
00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:40,053
I remember holding

64
00:03:40,053 --> 00:03:43,344
my three-month-old beautiful daughter

65
00:03:43,344 --> 00:03:46,094
whom I had just named Oma,

66
00:03:46,094 --> 00:03:51,070
which in my dialect
means "truth and justice,"

67
00:03:51,070 --> 00:03:55,986
as that was what I had longed so much for

68
00:03:55,986 --> 00:03:58,646
all this time.

69
00:03:58,646 --> 00:04:01,926
I dressed her in her
favorite bright dress,

70
00:04:01,926 --> 00:04:06,180
and here she was, about to accompany me

71
00:04:06,180 --> 00:04:09,022
to serve this one year sentence

72
00:04:09,022 --> 00:04:12,514
behind bars.

73
00:04:12,514 --> 00:04:15,372
The guards did not seem sensitive

74
00:04:15,372 --> 00:04:17,986
to the trauma that this experience

75
00:04:17,986 --> 00:04:20,452
was causing me.

76
00:04:20,452 --> 00:04:24,893
My dignity and humanity disappeared

77
00:04:24,893 --> 00:04:28,551
with the admission process.

78
00:04:28,551 --> 00:04:34,006
It involved me being
searched of contrabands,

79
00:04:34,006 --> 00:04:38,698
changed from my ordinary clothes

80
00:04:38,698 --> 00:04:40,300
to the prison uniform,

81
00:04:40,300 --> 00:04:43,479
forced to squat on the ground,

82
00:04:43,479 --> 00:04:46,916
a posture that I soon came to learn

83
00:04:46,916 --> 00:04:50,224
would form the routine

84
00:04:50,224 --> 00:04:53,426
of the thousands of searches,

85
00:04:53,426 --> 00:04:54,983
number counts,

86
00:04:54,983 --> 00:04:57,945
that lay ahead of me.

87
00:04:57,945 --> 00:05:01,481
The women told me,

88
00:05:01,481 --> 00:05:04,028
"You'll adjust to this place.

89
00:05:04,028 --> 00:05:07,540
You'll fit right in."

90
00:05:07,540 --> 00:05:11,878
I was no longer referred to
as Teresa Njoroge.

91
00:05:11,878 --> 00:05:16,608
The number 415/11 was my new identity,

92
00:05:16,608 --> 00:05:20,491
and I soon learned that was
the case with the other women

93
00:05:20,491 --> 00:05:23,761
who we were sharing this space with.

94
00:05:23,761 --> 00:05:28,939
And adjust I did to life on the inside:

95
00:05:28,939 --> 00:05:31,104
the prison food,

96
00:05:31,104 --> 00:05:34,242
the prison language,

97
00:05:34,242 --> 00:05:36,389
the prison life.

98
00:05:36,389 --> 00:05:43,026
Prison is certainly no fairytale world.

99
00:05:43,026 --> 00:05:45,672
What I didn't see come my way

100
00:05:45,672 --> 00:05:48,774
was the women and children

101
00:05:48,774 --> 00:05:55,826
whom we served time
and shared space with,

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00:05:55,826 --> 00:05:59,871
women who had been imprisoned

103
00:05:59,871 --> 00:06:02,886
for crimes of the system,

104
00:06:02,886 --> 00:06:08,508
the corruption that requires a fall guy,

105
00:06:08,508 --> 00:06:10,752
a scapegoat,

106
00:06:10,752 --> 00:06:13,309
so that the person who is responsible

107
00:06:13,309 --> 00:06:15,898
could go free,

108
00:06:15,898 --> 00:06:22,587
a broken system that routinely
vilifies the vulnerable,

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00:06:22,587 --> 00:06:24,925
the poorest amongst us,

110
00:06:24,925 --> 00:06:27,860
people who cannot afford to pay bail

111
00:06:27,860 --> 00:06:31,930
or bribes.

112
00:06:31,930 --> 00:06:34,954
And so we moved on.

113
00:06:34,954 --> 00:06:38,228
As I listened to story after story

114
00:06:38,228 --> 00:06:41,812
of these close to 700 women

115
00:06:41,812 --> 00:06:45,643
during that one year in prison,

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00:06:45,643 --> 00:06:49,572
I soon realized that crime

117
00:06:49,572 --> 00:06:54,813
was not what had brought
these women to prison,

118
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most of them,

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00:06:56,966 --> 00:06:59,312
far from it.

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00:06:59,312 --> 00:07:04,144
It had started with the education system,

121
00:07:04,144 --> 00:07:10,529
whose supply and quality
is not equal for all,

122
00:07:10,529 --> 00:07:13,873
lack of economic opportunities

123
00:07:13,873 --> 00:07:19,401
that pushes these women
to petty survival crimes,

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the health system,

125
00:07:21,544 --> 00:07:24,086
social justice system,

126
00:07:24,086 --> 00:07:26,715
the criminal justice system.

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If any of these women,

128
00:07:28,740 --> 00:07:31,570
who were mostly from poor backgrounds,

129
00:07:31,570 --> 00:07:34,511
fall through the cracks

130
00:07:34,511 --> 00:07:37,386
in the already broken system,

131
00:07:37,386 --> 00:07:39,943
the bottom of that chasm is a prison,

132
00:07:39,943 --> 00:07:43,359
period.

133
00:07:43,359 --> 00:07:48,023
By the time I completed
my one year sentence

134
00:07:48,023 --> 00:07:51,197
Langata Women Maximum Prison,

135
00:07:51,197 --> 00:07:54,470
I had a burning conviction

136
00:07:54,470 --> 00:07:59,454
to be part of the transformation

137
00:07:59,454 --> 00:08:01,764
to resolve the injustices

138
00:08:01,764 --> 00:08:03,845
that I had witnessed

139
00:08:03,845 --> 00:08:05,429
of women and girls

140
00:08:05,429 --> 00:08:07,992
who were caught up in a revolving door

141
00:08:07,992 --> 00:08:10,636
of a life of in and out of prison

142
00:08:10,636 --> 00:08:13,627
due to poverty.

143
00:08:13,627 --> 00:08:15,785
After my release,

144
00:08:15,785 --> 00:08:18,542
I set up Clean Start.

145
00:08:18,542 --> 00:08:21,879
Clean Start is a social enterprise

146
00:08:21,879 --> 00:08:24,952
that seeks to give these women and girls

147
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a second chance.

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What we do is we build bridges for them.

149
00:08:31,253 --> 00:08:34,032
We go into the prisons, train them,

150
00:08:34,032 --> 00:08:37,071
give them skills, tools and support

151
00:08:37,071 --> 00:08:40,803
to enable them to be able
to change their mindsets,

152
00:08:40,803 --> 00:08:43,647
their behaviors and their attitudes.

153
00:08:43,647 --> 00:08:48,061
We also build bridges into the prisons

154
00:08:48,061 --> 00:08:50,164
from the corporate sector,

155
00:08:50,164 --> 00:08:52,275
individuals, organizations

156
00:08:52,275 --> 00:08:54,269
that will partner with Clean Start

157
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to enable us to provide employment,

158
00:08:56,931 --> 00:08:58,741
places to call home,

159
00:08:58,741 --> 00:09:01,043
jobs, vocational training,

160
00:09:01,043 --> 00:09:03,137
for these women, girls,

161
00:09:03,137 --> 00:09:04,751
boys and men,

162
00:09:04,751 --> 00:09:08,558
upon transition back into society.

163
00:09:08,558 --> 00:09:10,974
I never thought

164
00:09:10,974 --> 00:09:13,104
that one day

165
00:09:13,104 --> 00:09:15,413
I would be giving stories

166
00:09:15,413 --> 00:09:18,864
of the injustices that are so common

167
00:09:18,864 --> 00:09:22,666
within the criminal justice system,

168
00:09:22,666 --> 00:09:25,352
but here I am.

169
00:09:25,352 --> 00:09:28,582
Every time I go back to prison,

170
00:09:28,582 --> 00:09:31,634
I feel ?? at home,

171
00:09:31,634 --> 00:09:36,445
but it is the daunting work

172
00:09:36,445 --> 00:09:38,407
to achieve the vision

173
00:09:38,407 --> 00:09:42,250
that keeps me awake at night,

174
00:09:42,250 --> 00:09:46,401
connecting the miles to Louisiana,

175
00:09:46,401 --> 00:09:52,541
which is deemed as the incarceration
capital of the world,

176
00:09:52,541 --> 00:09:55,384
carrying with me stories

177
00:09:55,384 --> 00:09:57,552
of hundreds of women

178
00:09:57,552 --> 00:10:00,924
whom I have met within the prisons,

179
00:10:00,924 --> 00:10:05,475
some of whom are now
embracing their second chances,

180
00:10:05,475 --> 00:10:09,336
and others who are still on the bridge

181
00:10:09,336 --> 00:10:12,830
of life's journey.

182
00:10:12,830 --> 00:10:15,497
I embody a line

183
00:10:15,497 --> 00:10:19,045
from the great Maya Angelou.

184
00:10:19,045 --> 00:10:21,572
I come as one,

185
00:10:21,572 --> 00:10:25,103
but I stand as 10,000.

186
00:10:25,103 --> 00:10:29,206
(Applause)

187
00:10:33,203 --> 00:10:37,425
For my story is singular,

188
00:10:37,425 --> 00:10:40,082
but imagine with me

189
00:10:40,082 --> 00:10:43,177
the millions of people

190
00:10:43,177 --> 00:10:46,326
in prisons today,

191
00:10:46,326 --> 00:10:50,649
yearning for freedom.

192
00:10:50,649 --> 00:10:55,326
Three years post- my conviction

193
00:10:55,326 --> 00:10:58,991
and two years post- my release,

194
00:10:58,991 --> 00:11:01,971
I got cleared by the courts of appeal

195
00:11:01,971 --> 00:11:04,209
of any wrongdoing.

196
00:11:04,209 --> 00:11:09,051
(Applause)

197
00:11:09,051 --> 00:11:11,106
Around the same time,

198
00:11:11,106 --> 00:11:13,304
I got blessed with my son,

199
00:11:13,304 --> 00:11:15,448
whom I named Uhuru,

200
00:11:15,448 --> 00:11:18,591
which in my dialect means freedom --

201
00:11:18,591 --> 00:11:22,666
(Applause) --

202
00:11:22,666 --> 00:11:24,822
because I had finally gotten the freedom

203
00:11:24,822 --> 00:11:28,987
that I so longed for.

204
00:11:28,987 --> 00:11:33,780
I come as one,

205
00:11:33,780 --> 00:11:36,173
but I stand as 10,000,

206
00:11:36,173 --> 00:11:38,388
encouraged by the hard-edged hope

207
00:11:38,388 --> 00:11:40,585
that thousands of us

208
00:11:40,585 --> 00:11:42,410
have come together

209
00:11:42,410 --> 00:11:45,222
to reform and transform

210
00:11:45,222 --> 00:11:48,294
the criminal justice system,

211
00:11:48,294 --> 00:11:52,535
encouraged that we are doing our jobs

212
00:11:52,535 --> 00:11:55,442
as we are meant to do them.

213
00:11:55,442 --> 00:11:57,761
And let us keep doing them

214
00:11:57,761 --> 00:11:59,849
with no apology.

215
00:11:59,849 --> 00:12:01,288
Thank you.

216
00:12:01,288 --> 00:12:04,804
(Applause)