Youthful inmates beginning their sentences in high-security prisons run into all kinds of negative influences. To address the problem, California lawmakers passed the Youth Offender Program late last year.
“The goal is to keep youth away from more serious and violent criminal influences found at high-security level prisons,” said Joe Orlando, a public information officer with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Sidney Ralph Wainiqolo is one youngster who benefits from the program. His first offense was an armed robbery committed at age 16. He received a four-year sentence to the Division of Juvenile Justice, formerly known as the California Youth Authority (YA).
“The YA is a dog-eat-dog world,” Wainiqolo said. “We fought, participated in riots and other illegal activities. I learned to strike first in order to survive.”
Wainiqolo said after enduring the trials and tribulations of YA, he considers himself lucky to have ended up at a fire camp as a juvenile offender.
“Being a firefighter was something I never thought of growing up or even doing,” he said. “We traveled all through Northern California, and the food was great.”
Wainiqolo said the harsh conditions of fire camp training installed work ethics in him. He said he’s proud of the certificates he earned while passing fire fighting training. “I learned how to fight these crazy wildfires and making it out alive,” he said.
Wainiqolo said the busy fire camp schedule provided a tremendous opportunity for positive change in his life.
“We would work every day and go into the community and do whatever they or the city needed, like weed-whacking crop fields and cleaning up forestry work,” Wainiqolo said. “I never imagined myself obtaining skills in this trade, especially during incarceration. The experience helped me open up more and, in a sense, augmented my personal growth.”
Wainiqolo said after getting an illegal cellphone, to contact his family, he got caught and kicked out of fire camp.
“It was a mistake, but I missed my family,” he said. “Since I’ve been down at 16, I only got one visit from them.”
Wainiqolo was informed that he was being sent to San Quentin State Prison.
“I knew I was going where all the big boys were,” Wainiqolo said.
“I was nervous, but I wasn’t scared,” he said. “I didn’t really know much about the Youth Offender Program until the counselor explained it to me.”
Wainiqolo said San Quentin was completely different than what he expected. He met an older Tongan man, a lifer named Damon Cooke. Wainiqolo said Cooke explained San Quentin was a prison with a lot of programs and that inmates were preparing to re-enter society.
“I thought to myself, ‘This is really a place for people to take advantage of the opportunities, regardless if the person didn’t have a set date,’” Wainiqolo said.
He reported Jason Jones helped him stay on the straight and narrow. Jones created Recognizing Every Active Leader (REAL) to match older inmates with younger inmates in order to mentor and guide them into self-help programs and positive activities.
REAL is a 10-week course that teaches participants leadership skills, history, public speaking and career-building skills. The program currently has 10 members who are mentors for 20 young men.
Wainiqolo’s mentor is Reginald S. Hola, a co-founder of REAL, who also happens to be Wainiqolo’s close family member.
“I was young when (Hola) got locked up,” Wainiqolo said. “His generation influenced my generation while I was coming up in the streets.”
Through Hola’s mentorship, Wainiqolo said he saw how Hola had developed a “gratitude mind-set.”
Hola led Wainiqolo to self-help groups including the Native Hawaiian Service; Restoring Our Original True Selves (ROOTS), an Asian Pacific Islander cultural awareness group; and Insight Gardening.
Wainiqolo also had the opportunity to participate in the TEDx San Quentin conference on Jan. 22.
“I’ve gotten to see his tremendous wisdom,” Wainiqolo said about Hola. “He’s been a great positive mentor since I’ve been here. He showed me that relationships can either help grow your vision or choke your dreams.”
Wainiqolo is scheduled to be released from prison in May.
“Upon release, I plan to focus on being a pro-active member in my community and being committed to my goals and work hard to strive for a better future,” Wainiqolo said. “Being here with my loved ones had made that possible.”
