In June, the communication undergraduate program in our branch campus in Guayaquil started its community involvement project titled "Freedom on probation" in the city's detention center. The project will take place until September and the aim is to teach detainees language, linguistics, writing and literature.

The aim is to reinforce the skills and knowledge of 40 women detainees so they can return to work in the future. The women attend creative writing class to improve the inter personal relationships in the detention center. 

Eleven communication students are in charge of guiding the women in creative writing class; they are asked to write stories, chronicles, narrations and poems. "In the last few years, detention centers have organized classes so detainees can have access to education", said Augusto Rodriguez, professor and coordinator of the project.

Students must complete 160 hours in meetings, workshops and reading and writing classes. At the end of the project, there will be a video to demonstrate the experience of teaching the detainees and how these activities favor their labor insertion. In addition, the best works of the creative writing workshop will be selected and published in a book.

"I think it's a very interesting project, I like the idea of teaching detainees, teaching them what I know, having contact with them has shown their difficult perspective of life," said Angie Robles, UPS student.