E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
Felipe Dana / AP
Ronaldo da Silva, left, and fellow inmates pedal stationary bikes to charge car batteries at a prison in Santa Rita do Sapucai, Brazil on Friday. An innovative program allows inmates at this medium-security prison to shave days off their sentence in exchange for riding stationary bikes hooked up to converted car batteries that are used to illuminate Santa Rita do Sapucai's town square.
The Associated Press reports — Brazilian inmate Ronaldo da Silva hops on a bicycle and pedals furiously, clocking up several miles before slowing down and jumping off.
Silva hasn't gotten far, in fact not an inch. He's still inside the medium-security prison where he's serving a 5.5-year sentence for holding up a bakery, standing next to a stationary bike.
But he did move a bit closer to freedom. Silva is part of an innovative program that allows inmates at a prison in Brazil's southeastern Minas Gerais state to reduce their sentences in exchange for generating power to help illuminate the town at night. Read the full story.
Felipe Dana / AP
A woman using her smart phone is illuminated by a battery powered street lamp in Santa Rita do Sapucai, Brazil. An innovative program allows inmates at the Santa Rita do Sapucai medium-security prison to shave days off their sentence in exchange for riding stationary bikes hooked up to converted car batteries that are used to illuminate the town square.
Felipe Dana / AP
A inmate pedals a stationary bikes to charge car batteries at a prison in Santa Rita do Sapucai.
Felipe Dana / AP
An inmate takes a break from pedaling a stationary bike to charge car batteries at a prison in Santa Rita do Sapucai, Minas Gerais state, Brazil.
Leave a Comment:
I see this program helping many people and in a lot of ways and its a win, win situation in the end. On the flip side I could also understand why a victim wouldn't be totally behind the program because they want the prisoner to suffer while paying for his/her crime and in a way the prisoner does suffer a bit as peddling for 8 hours a day isn't an easy task for most people but in the end if this program helps to make prisoners better people once they get their freedom back then it has served its purpose and also helped more than just one person.
Anything that helps to better a person in my opinion is a good thing. When these prisoners improve themselves through these and other programs its a good thing for everyone, maybe in the long run it will also change some people from being takers to givers and helpers, who knows but at least I hope it does.
With all the prisons in the US if they had this program we could power America.
I like it ....