MIFICPA donates to CNMI Prison Fellowship program

The Marianas Institute of Filipino Accountants and CPAs recently donated $350 to the Sycamore Tree Project of Prison Fellowship CNMI.

MIFICPA was able to raise this fund from the tax seminar it conducted last March 2008. Half of the proceeds from the participation fee went to the social work prison ministry, while the other half was donated to Beautify CNMI!

About 130 participants attended the tax seminar held last March 1 from 8am to 12pm at the Pedro P. Tenorio Multi-Purpose Hall. CNMI Board of Accountancy chair David Burger conducted the tax seminar.

MIFICPA said the tax seminar was quite successful, as the organization was able to help accountants on some tax regulation changes and at the same time helped the community with its proceeds.

Organization president Irene Santiago said helping the community and educating its members are some of the goals of MIFICPA.

“We as leaders and members we feel the joy of helping. There’s a big sense of satisfaction when we help people out,” she said.

The Sycamore Tree Project is a faith-based program that brings victims into prisons to meet with “unrelated” offenders. The groups discuss together issues related to crime and its consequences.

Helping prisoners to see the consequences of their crimes and feel remorse for their actions is what Prison Fellowship’s Sycamore Tree Project is all about. One of the ways the program accomplishes this is by showing offenders the impact that crime has on victims. Such was the case for juvenile prisoners (ages 16 and 17) taking part in PF Netherlands’ Sycamore Tree Project known there as “Spreken over Schuld (SOS),” which means, “Speaking about Guilt.”

Prison Fellowship International’s unique victim/offender mediation programme has had a dramatic affect on participating prisoners. The Sycamore Tree Project brings victims into prisons to meet with unrelated offenders in an intensive 8-12 week course in which they discuss the consequences of crime. The results are profound for both victims and prisoners. A recent survey of more than 2,000 prisoner participants showed an improvement in their empathy toward crime victims and their recognition of the harm their individual offences have caused, as well as a decreased sense that crime is worth the cost. [B][I](mificpa)
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