IT is a sound heard by every prisoner that enters the St Catherine Adult Correctional Centre in Spanish Town.

The clanging of the heavy metal doors behind them, shutting them off from loved ones, friends and freedom. But for 12 prisoners, those doors were opened last week, thanks to Food For The Poor and an anonymous donor living in Florida.

Inside the prison chapel, 12 men – some young, some old – sit on two wooden benches waiting for the final confirmation of their release. Their expressions are hard to read. Indifference? Shock? Perhaps they do not believe that they will be able to spend Easter with their families this year? But they will, and perhaps quite appropriately they are getting this chance at Easter – a time for rebirth and new beginnings.

The Food For The Poor’s prison ministry run by Sandra Ramsey – a woman whose dedication to this programme must not be judged by her small size – paid the fines for the release of the 12 men who were each serving jail time because they could not afford to pay.

“Most of these men are here for non-violent charges, such as fraud, unlawful wounding, traffic offences, and marijuana charges,” Ramsey explained.

In total, the charity paid fines amounting to just over J$300,000 for inmates at that facility. The charity is also expected to release prisoners from the Tamarind Farm and Fort Augusta adult correctional centres.

The prison ministry arm of Food For The Poor, which started in 2003 in Jamaica, has now spread to Guatemala, Honduras and Guyana. Each country operates similar programmes, where prisoners are released biennially – at Easter and Christmas. However, although Food For The Poor exists on the generosity of donors, this programme has one special donor. Preferring to remain anonymous, a Jamaican man, living in Florida, sends J$1 million twice a year to release prisoners.

While the number of prisoners released varies, the aim is to release as many as possible, and if needs be, Food for The Poor will fund the difference. This Easter, an additional J$50,000 was donated by a female ophthalmologist, who had read about the prison release programme and wanted to help. Her money went to free a female prisoner at Fort Augusta, who was incarcerated for unlawful wounding, and could not pay her fine.

Back at the St Catherine Adult Correctional Centre, there is a deafening din echoing around the yard. There is a basketball game in progress, and the entire prison population has come out to watch. Others, more interested in the group from Food For The Poor walking across the compound, call out to the women in the group, “You look like you mus come inna Royal Palm.” The women laugh nervously, waving back at those prisoners who appeared overly excited to have females in their midst.

The chapel has a simple painted concrete floor, and simple wooden benches. Cut-outs high above the altar in the wall stand for a cross with the words, “This Is The Word of The Lord,” written simply underneath. Donated by Food For The Poor 10 years ago, the chapel also houses numerous workshops including furniture-making, grillwork, and tailoring. It is also fully equipped with an electric keyboard, drum set, guitar, speakers, and even a bushwacker to cut the grass.

Speaking on behalf of the prison, Superintendent Sylvester Lindor addressed the men.

“This is a special gift to you,” he said. “This is a gift for you to cherish. It is not my desire to see you again, we want you to go back to your societies, live good and get a job.”

Similarly, it is for this reason that Ramsey believes so strongly in the programme. “We all make mistakes, and it’s not for me to judge,” she said. “They have to come out at some point, and if we don’t try and change their lives while they are in there, the situation may be worse for them when they do come out. We want to try to better them and make them productive citizens,” she said.

The release programme is not the only purpose of the prison ministry. Their main focus is the after-care programme, where Ramsey and her team of volunteers take time interviewing recently released prisoners, and help them find work with small businesses. Ramsey said that of the approximately 700 prisoners who had approached the ministry seeking assistance since its inception, only three had returned to prison. “We have to help them (and) give them a chance, because if we don’t, no one else will.”

Ramsey had only one request when it was her turn to address the prisoners. She urged each of them to take their families to church today.

“We hope that you take this release as a blessing from God,” Sylvester Anderson, manager of investigation at Food For The Poor, told the men. Anderson’s parting shot to the 12 soon-to-be-free inmates was to draw a biblical reference between them and Jesus’ 12 disciples.

“Like the 12 disciples,” Anderson said, “take the opportunity to minister not only the word of God, but minister the word that life behind bars isn’t a good place”.

But even up to this point, many of the men still had a look of indifference on their faces. It was as though they still did not believe what was about to happen.

However, when Dr Jephthah Ford stepped to the lectern to present them with an envelope of J$2,000 to assist with their transportation costs home, among other things, the reality seemed to finally sink in. Smiles broke out across many faces, and they applauded. Now they believed. Freedom had finally come.

One man, Christopher Jones thanked those involved on behalf of the other men. Jones had been incarcerated for three weeks. He was a taxi driver and could not afford to pay a number of traffic violations. He was sent to prison. “Me all a want to cry when mi hear that I was going come out,” Jones says. With this new opportunity, he plans to work with some friends who own a car wash.

But ultimately, he will spend Easter with his children, one 11 years old and the other seven years old. The children had no idea that their dad would be released.

“It going be a surprise,” Jones confided just before he walked to freedom.