I'm a volunteer educator with Aloha District 49 Toastmasters. We have clubs in prisons in the state. The one I go to at Halawa (Medium) Facility is going strong. As a matter of fact, the governor of our state, Linda Lingle even visited Halawa during one of our regular club meetings!!! We got press coverage, the guys did their speeches, we even got to be on the news (a good thing in this case!) The club is runned by the inmates with us educators there to "show them the ropes" in communications and leadership skills. These skills will be very useful to them once they get ready to go outside and reintegrate into society.

The president of the club is determined to get 10 out of 10 goals towards the Distinguished Club Program which all Toastmasters clubs (inside and out) strive towards. And with 20-25 plus members I believe that they will do it. I'm so very proud of all the guys in the club, and glad to be a member of the club as well.

I can't wait to bring Prison Talk Online to the guys via a speech that I'm working on. I think that they will dig this website as much as I do!

That's great! Of course, I've never heard of that. Is there one in Tallahatchie? If no, it would be nice to institute something like that there. I would be very interested in being part of the club. Thank you!



I'm a volunteer educator with Aloha District 49 Toastmasters. We have clubs in prisons in the state. The one I go to at Halawa (Medium) Facility is going strong. As a matter of fact, the governor of our state, Linda Lingle even visited Halawa during one of our regular club meetings!!! We got press coverage, the guys did their speeches, we even got to be on the news (a good thing in this case!) The club is runned by the inmates with us educators there to "show them the ropes" in communications and leadership skills. These skills will be very useful to them once they get ready to go outside and reintegrate into society.

The president of the club is determined to get 10 out of 10 goals towards the Distinguished Club Program which all Toastmasters clubs (inside and out) strive towards. And with 20-25 plus members I believe that they will do it. I'm so very proud of all the guys in the club, and glad to be a member of the club as well.

I can't wait to bring Prison Talk Online to the guys via a speech that I'm working on. I think that they will dig this website as much as I do!

I'm so very happy to hear of the sucess of the program. I too have never heard of it, but I'm all for any program that will help our ohana in prison when they are released. Maybe you could fill us in as to exactly what kind of things these inmates go thru in the program. Mahalo!!!

When I attend the prison clubs with a couple of my fellow Toastmasters we run a regular club meeting. Speeches are given, evaluations on these speeches are done, we do Table Topics (extenporaneous, off the cuff speaking) and other roles are played, i.e., grammarian/ah counter (catches them distracting um's and ah's), word of the day (to increase vocabulary), timer (so that people can learn to give full on speeches within a certain limit of time). The club at Halawa Medium Facility is runned through the educational program at the prison. It's THEIR club; we're just there to facilitate and teach them the ropes. The executive board is made up of inmates. And these guys just blow me away with their creativity and intelligence! I hear speeches ranging from what got them in there, to what they were doing before they became incacerated, to minute little things about how nasty their chow is. What a sense of humor they have too!

Hopefully they'll learn some communications and leadership skills that will serve them well when they reintegrate into society. In the immediacy, hopefully they'll present well to the Paroling Authority. These folks DO take a second look when one presents themselves with confidence, poise and knows what they're talking about and what they want. As for what I get out of it? It's the hope that I can help one of my "braddahs" out helping them to acquire the communications skills to make it on the outside.

That's awesome... Now that I understand what it's all about I'm even more excited for these men going thru the Toastmasters program.. Yes it will help them present themselves in a different light before the Parole boards and to the public when they are released. Mahalo sooo much for the input it's much appreciated!!

There is one particular person who sits on the Paroling Authority that looks out for stuff like how the guys communicate in particular. He likes to ask them questions to try to throw them off. He wants to see if a potential parolee can think on his feet and not regurgitate what his lawyer says. Hopefully being involved in an activity like Toastmasters will help them in getting those skills so they'll be confident and articulate in front of the board.

Thank you for your kind words. If you have a loved one in Halawa Medium, Waiawa or WCCC please encourage them to go to a meeting. It may help them. Take care and blessings.