European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 21, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Finding religion in the prisons of Peru from sin to salvation stories by Ron Jensen staff writer Ronald Dabb plucked the Bible from his bookshelf shortly before the 20-hour flight from Frankfurt West Germany to Lima Peru in 1982. Something to pass the time on the Long trip he thought. It was a curious selection. For one thing his copy of the holy Book had sat undisturbed for years. For another Babb was embarking on the least holy of ventures. He was flying to Peru to participate in a major cocaine Deal. Plans went awry however. It would be five years before he would leave that South american country and see again his native West Germany. But when he did return his life had undergone a great change a a change that began wifi that most unlikely Choice of Reading material Babb now 32, had been called to Peru by a Friend who wanted him to organize a drug Sale which he did the illegal White powder was delivered by peruvians to his Friend s apartment. Quot As soon As we were in the apartment my Friend said i must go buy some cigarettes Quot Babb recalls. Quot it was a trap Quot the police kicked in the door. Babb was soon behind bars in Lur Jancho prison in Lima one of the biggest in South America and one of the most inhumane in the world. It was built by american contractors to House 1,200 prisoners. Babb was one of 7,000 inmates conditions were appalling. There was running water for Only 20 minutes a Day. Food was As awful As it was unsatisfying. Quot the food they had was very bad Quot Babb says. Quot it was just Rice and Beans or Beans and Rice. Or just Beans or just Rice. Quot there was Only crude and inconsistent medical care for the Many prisoners who became ill. Someone died nearly every Day the deaths were often a result of violence that continued without interference from the poorly paid disinterested guards. Quot there was incredible drug traffic inside the prison Quot he says. Quot you could buy anything you want any amount from the guards  Babb could hear rats scampering through the prison at night cockroaches thrived in the steaming heat of the dark Damp cells. At first Babb shared a cell with a former policemen tailed on drug charges but he soon Quot bought Quot his own cell a common practice in the prison Community. Quot the cell i bought belonged to the biggest drug dealer inside Quot he says. Quot he had about 10  the Quot landlord Quot commandeered cells that belonged to customers who did not pay their debts and then sold them to prisoners with enough Money. He was serving time for Bank robbery but did not want to leave when his sentence was up because of the lucrative business he had inside the Walls. In this environment Babb began to read his Bible the Only personal Possession returned to him by the prison officials. He read he says to find an escape from his situation. How he wondered could god open his cell door an american missionary came to the prison frequently to minister to foreigners and hold Bible study classes. Babb went to him for an explanation of what he was Reading. He soon claimed to have discovered the truth of Jesus Christ. He had become a Christian so now he thought he could be released. Quot but it was just the opposite Quot he says. Quot my trial came up and my sentence was 10 years with no parole Quot desperate he tried to escape with a peruvian who had escaped this same prison six times. They reached the outer Fence before being caught and tossed into maximum Security. Quot i was there two months Quot Babb says. Quot there is where i finally got the message that i should Trust god and not people that same Day i was released from that Hole. Quot i had peace like my problem would be taken care  Babb was still in prison but his heart and his mind were suddenly free. The Rigours of prison life were now bearable. Quot after two or three years most people break Down Quot he says. Quot it is too much. They just become drug  Babb stayed away from the drugs in the prison. Other prisoners invited him to take part in Large drug deals planned once they were free. He declined. Quot i turned them All Down. No one could believe it Quot he says. Quot you can make a lot of Money but its not Good. The Money is cursed  outside the Walls of the prison the government of Peru was planning to commute the sentences of Many people in Lur Jancho. Babb was released in 1985, ending three years of confinement. There were still problems. His 90-Day visa had obviously expired. There was no Legal Way for him to leave the country. While he waited for the government to sort out this problem he moved into an apartment with a Friend also fresh from prison life. As if by some outside intervention the apartment was a Block from the Church of the Good Shepherd where the american missionary from the prison was serving. Babb began attending services. Quot that was very important to have a Church Quot he says. While he waited for the government to allow him to leave he and his Friend a also a Christian a returned to Lur Jancho to minister to friends. Quot i never imagined i would go Back to that place Quot he says. Quot that was the last thing on Earth i wanted to do. But two months later i went Back to  from the visits grew a desire to continue this Type of service to the lord. Babb stayed for two years taking other christians from the Church with him. This continued until 1987, when he returned to Frankfurt. He began attending the Trinity lutheran Church an English language International Church. He helped organize the foreign prisons Christian Fellowship which ministers to foreigners in the pre Ungetheim jail in Frankfurt. He also recently became european director of prison Fellowship ministries an International organization created by former watergate conspirator Charles Colson. Babb has a special feel for those prisoners who Are so far from Home. Quot it s like a double prison Quot he says. Quot it s bad enough to lose your Freedom. Being confined for a human being is a terrible punishment. Quot but in a foreign country you Don t know anyone. No one comes to  there Are monthly services in English for the prisoners who have no idea that the ministry comes to them because of Babb s Odd Choice of Reading material for a plane ride eight years ago. >4 it fax a a. A. V. A a Ronald Babb pictured outside the pre Ungetheim jail in Frankfurt West Germany is the director of foreign prisoners Christian Fellowship. A amps Gus Schuettler helping foreigners jailed in German Many of the men confined in the pre Ungetheim jail in Frankfurt West Germany Are prisoners but not criminals says the director of foreign prisoners Christian Fellowship. Many Are life s flotsam and jetsam men from All Corners of the Globe who were offered an irresistible amount of Money to deliver drugs to Europe says Ronald Babb. The Frankfurt Airport is where they most often lose their Freedom. A they have never committed a crime in their lives Quot he says. Quot but they were so poor and desperate. Some have never travelled in their lives and they Are naive. They Are spotted right away. Quot and now they Are abandoned. Nobody cares for them. They realize it was a mistake but it s too  the foreign prisoner s Christian Fellowship is part of Black Cross the German prison ministry and is operated through the Trinity lutheran Church in Frankfurt an International Church that holds sunday services in English. About two thirds of the 700 prisoners in the jail Are foreigners. They come from 60 to 65 countries. Quot they showed us a list Quot Babb says. Quot it was like the United  the prisoners Are held there Only until their trial but that May take from three months to three years. Quot in this time they Are completely isolated Quot Babb says. Quot it is particularly bad because they Are 23 hours a Day in their  the prisoners Are there for a number of reasons. Some entered the country with improper papers. But most Are jailed on drug smuggling charges. Many of them Are from the third world and have seen their families struggle in poverty. In an Effort to provide better living conditions they accepted when a drug dealer offered them Money to deliver a package to Europe. But now they Are imprisoned and far from Home. Often they Are unable to talk with anyone in their Home language since the guards Are required to speak Only German even if they know a prisoner s native Tongue. The Rev. Alan j. Rider pastor of the Trinity lutheran Church met a Man in prison from Hong Kong who spoke Only chinese. Quot nobody could understand him and communication is so important Quot he says. In 19 had be three the Lari Frankli holds n Quot the prison. Quot the Only problem is the time is so Short. They of Babb returned to Germany from Peru. He me a Christian while imprisoned there for is on a drug charge. When he heard about percentage of foreign prisoners in the jail he established the ministry which Nathly services. Are eager to come Quot says rider of the give us 45 minutes to an hour. All i ids of christianity is there. We try to be Genera moslem from Iran began to attend the after dreaming about Jesus. The dream Ain and again until the Man decided to change Lis Faith. One service came a buts says. Quot we moslem trying t any the for . Be be Publ Page 14 a a a the stars and stripes h a thing is not the ministry a intent rider 1 not really beating the Drums to turn into christians Quot rider says. Quot All we re do is reach out to  a  a interested in volunteering or donating to 9n prisoners Christian Fellowship can write 100313,6000 Frankfurt main 1, Federal it Germany or Call 069-746540. Inmates at Somers state prison have a Well equipped classroom for their computer studies. Connecticut prisoners work with software behind bars computer course by Elizabeth Lightfoot associated press most Are doing hard time for crimes such As manslaughter and rape but for some inmates at Somers state prison in Connecticut Quot hard time Quot Means working with software. Eight to 10 hours a Day seven Days a week inmates in the prison s computer class can be found hunched in front of terminals writing sophisticated programs that have saved the state thousands of dollars and piles of paperwork. They have automated virtually everything that can be automated at the prison from school attendance records to pay schedules for the 1,400 inmates. Their conversations Are laced with terms like Quot base Quot Quot a to and  they read All the computer literature they can get their hands on write articles of their own about the Field and share their expertise with other inmates. Quot in prison it s important to fill your Day and if you can fill it with something productive it s All the better Quot says Peter Schickler 45, the Only one of the 16 inmates in the program with extensive computer experience. Quot i d say 80 percent of the people that come through will get a computer Job which when you think about it is a whole different world from what most people in prison Are Able to do. Quot you la find with a Programmer he s judged by How Good a Programmer he is and not by his personal background Quot adds Schickler who is serving 20 years for manslaughter. The computer school at Somers was started in 1982 but under the Tutelage of department of correction teacher Carl Gabbert it has grown from a few Small unsophisticated computers to 15 ism compatible personal computers All with the latest software. There s a waiting list to get in. Quot nobody turns their life around until they be made a decision to Quot says William e. Flower a department of correction spokesman. Quot but once they be made a decision to turn their life around then they need a vehicle. That s what this program  a mainframe consultant before his 1984 conviction Schickler could be Quot in the top one Hundredth of 1 percent Quot of the computer Field in the United states says Carey Prague assistant director of corporate finance at travellers cos. And a Volunteer adviser to the program. For 25-year-old Douglas Lavigne computers have meant a focus an eventual career and a source of Pride that he never had when he was free at 17, Lavigne was sentenced to 20 years for manslaughter in a drug related shooting and stabbing when he was still a High school senior. While his classmates went off to College Lavigne went to prison. The parole Board recently reduced Lavigne s sentence to 18 years which Means a possible release within a few years Lavigne is hoping Lor College and a computer Cui Eor Quot in Myoung enough i got a second Chance and i took advantage of it Quot the soft spoken Lavigne said As he demonstrated a class devised program that Hacks health records at another prison Quot i got More hours on a computer than anybody else my age a that s for sure i can compete i just got to gel the old formal education and then i m All set Quot William Quot Toby Quot Wright who had a 10th Grade education and worked for a dry cleaner and Carpenter belie lie was convicted of manslaughter eight years ago landed an interview As a Programmer at Aetna life amp casualty when he became eligible for parole recently parole was denied so it never went any further but Prague Savici Wright and the others will have no problem finding lucrative jobs. In fact Prague tie author of 23 books on computers and a consultant for Ashton Tate co says some of the inmates a Schickler and Lavigne in particular a Are so Good Fiey could easily make annual salaries that top $100,000 Prague thought he would Volunteer As a teacher but Quot i found they knew More than i did Quot now he advises them on their futures most of the schoolwork has gone to com Juten a various aspects of the prison but Gabbert s class has also done work for the outside the class recently signed on As a test site for Ashton Tate testing the software giant s newest products it is ideally suited because the work is rigorous and time consuming when correction officials decided in 1988 that the prison s pharmacy system was obsolete Uliey turned to the computer class computer vendors had told the department that the equipment to make the pharmacy efficient would Cost up to $60,000 or More the inmates were Able to do it for $13,500. And they trained the staff to use the Low Cost system without outside help the computer processes 300 prescriptions a Day produces labels tracks medical histories and maintains an inventory of 1,200 drugs serving two Ottier institutions All is not Trust the class instructor watches out Tor mischief As Well. For the computer whizzes at Somers Money is clearly not the draw. The most they can make in prison is $ 1 40 a Day Quot the word i keep going Back to is self esteem Quot Schickler says. Quot the whole reason that we re in Here is to pay a debt you might say i kind of feel Good when one of the Guys someone who has never touched a computer before gets a Job or a letter of commendation knowing that i was a part of it gives me a lot of satisfaction Quot for Lavigne computers May be the Way he can restore the Faith he believes his family lost in him eight years ago Quot i put them through hell and Back again and i have to try to do some making up there Quot he says Quot they stuck by me through this whole thing so hopefully they la be proud of me some Day Quot monday May 11,1990 the stars and stripes a a a Page 15