Visit to the Turopolje juvenile prison

The Rehobot Foundation continues its decades-long collaboration with the juvenile prison of Turopolje, near Zagreb.

On 3 January 2023, an Italian delegation, made up of: Don Giampaolo Assiso, parish priest of Anguillara Veneta, Don Marco Bedin, parish priest of Ospedaletto di Vicenza and Mrs. Paola Zambon, a volunteer, accompanied by Mr. Luka Krilic, member of the board of directors of the Rehobot Foundation visited the juvenile prison with the intention of establishing possible collaborations with identical Italian structures.

The deputy director presented the various training activities that take place inside the prison, from compulsory schooling for those who have not completed it up to professional training. During the years of detention, which range from 6 months to 3 years, minors can obtain both a secondary school diploma and a certificate as assistant cook, waiter and welder. This latter profession is still at a standstill for now as the laboratory, where the practice was carried out, does not comply with the technical criteria currently in force; the restructuring of the workshop is awaited. The juvenile prison of Turopolje, unique in Croatia, currently has 37 minors, only male, from all over the country.

Among the most urgent needs, according to those in charge, there is the need to find safe and protective accommodation for minors who, when leaving, do not have the guarantee of a healthy family that can welcome them. More protected are the Roma who live in groups.

Among the future activities, the Foundation is evaluating the possibility of carrying out a reception project in collaboration with other Associations already engaged in activities in favor of minors.
The visit was also an occasion for the boys to express their gratitude to the Rehobot Foundation for the tracksuits and trainers they received as Christmas gifts.