A man is not finished when he's defeated.

He's finished when he quits.

                                                                                       Richard M. Nixon

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Dear reader,

                       Now that I am writing this book to be published, I must say that I would have preferred to deal with a romantic theme, full of pleasant feelings suitable for a short story. Or to write an epic story about a leader, a hero or a national hero, to be admired and praised. This is to avoid having to bring up unpleasant and cruel memories of the past. However, because of my sense of civic engagement, I feel I have a duty to bring my story forward.

                At this point, I bring forward daily events that I have experienced and accumulated for this book, firmly convinced that it will contribute  with a grain of sand to the formation of the young aspiring prison guard who will be part of the constellation of a prison corps . I hope that my story can contribute in this regard to more wisdom for the prison guards who are put into work with so much adversity, and who on various occasions can feel the lack of security needed to do a good job.

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                      This is what I needed at various times in my yearning to do my job. If a prison officer does his job according to regulatory instructions, he also expects to receive support so that he can contribute to a solid structure in prison management. During my job, I have always tried to give the prisoners everything they were entitled to. But I've never tried to be a good buddy and fail prison rules to get the sympathy of a prisoner. Because this system can ensure that a colleague who does his job well can be seen with bad eyes by the prisoners who do not follow the rules. A prison guard can face, because of this, several difficulties that can trip him and let him lose the perspective of the vision he can have to shape his future. Outside forces will try to divert him from his goal. Evil maneuvers can go so far as to try to rob the most precious thing of this young man, which is his life.

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                    This is the reality that I experienced at a relatively young age, during the execution of my work as a prison guard in the prison in Kurá Spè. I was a young man with all the qualities to be able to achieve the utmost in his career. However, I have fallen victim to bad plans by criminals. Therefore, I could not shut up, slow my mind and remain silent. The impulse in my heart moved my fingers on paper to reveal these injustices that were taken against me for no reason.

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                         In this book, where necessary, I will use initials instead of the entire name. Why? This is to protect either a prisoner or a prison guard. Because when it comes to a prisoner, those prisoners have already served their sentence. And I don't think it is necessary to publicize their names now. For example, when it comes to a prison guard, depending on the case, I believe it is best to keep the names of certain prison guards anonymous, as again depending on the case, the name itself is not important. Where I believe it to be necessary, I will do that with other people.

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                          Where, depending on the case (from either gratitude, cruelty or injustice), I deem it not necessary nor desirable, I have mentioned either certain people's name or surname. I hope everyone can understand my determination to write this book, that I have named LIFE OF A PRISON GUARD. A report of the events in the last years of the prison at Plasa Wilhelmina and the first years of the prison at Koraal Specht, is not with the intention to win a literary prize as a writer, nor to discredit any body or person. It is simply a fiery feeling that has arisen within my being and that has continued to boil in my interior over the years, with the cry to one day come to light. This bitter feeling after so much struggle for survival kept calling for justice.

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