Wayne Garcia thinks of Carrera Convict Prison, its current battle with covid19 and the way the prison has shaped his life. He recalls the early days of the worldwide pandemic and the fear that initially hit Carrera inmates when they heard of covid19.

He remembers inmates in Carrera boasting, “'We are the only island in the world where there is no covid.’

“When I was there, covid19 protocols were strict and inmates wore their masks,” he said.

Garcia felt lucky to be released from the island prison on February 21, before covid19 hit Carrera.

After waiting ten years for his trial, he had been convicted on June 20, 2018 for possession of a gun. He insists the charge was “bogus.” This was his second sentence in Carrera.

The first came while Garcia was serving in the regiment. He had joined the army when he was 19. While serving, he was arrested for possession of 100 pounds of marijuana. Sentenced to six years of hard labour, just after the 1990 coup attempt, he went to Carrera for the first time on March 8, 1990.

His second charge came in 2008.

“I went to a gas station in Mayaro. I was intoxicated, had a quarrel, the police came and I had a confrontation with the police. They charged me for resisting arrest and then for possession of a firearm.

“My behaviour was inappropriate. I admit that,” he said, “but I had no gun,” he insisted.

Over the years, there were other charges for obscene language and a charge two decades ago for chopping a man.

Now, Garcia said, “I’m not going back to prison. I made up my mind inside of there to leave the crime life behind. I want to make a flip in life.”

Now 57, he said, “You’re never too old to change. Some people take longer than others to see the light, but there are people who come out of prison rehabilitated.

“Even when I was into crime, I always had an urge to come out of that life.”

As a young man, he said, “I got into trouble out of curiosity and a need for adventure. Really and truly, a lot of young men get into crime because they need money, and they can’t get an honest way to make money.

[caption id="attachment_908753" align="alignnone" width="763"] Wayne Garcia walks tall on a street in Morvant. Garcia plans to start a community programme to help young people. - Photo by Sureash Cholai[/caption]

“I know that is hard for people to understand, but there are places way behind the ones you see, where people don’t get chances. They really don’t. They do one crime, and that is enough to put them away for life.”

The last time Garcia went to prison, he signed up to participate in the Wishing for Wings/Prison interstation debates. He joined Carrera’s debate team. That choice, he said, helped him focus on his dream. “I had decided to rehabilitate and reform myself in prison.”

Turning over a new leaf for any prison inmate is difficult in the best of times. Opportunities for jobs are virtually nonexistent once someone has a prison record.

Starting over in life during a pandemic might seem totally impossible, but Garcia said he made his mind up in pris