But last week, inmates around the world who call themselves “compassionistas” teamed up to see who could perform the most acts of compassion, and competed other prisons and citizens in The 2017 Compassion Games.
In previous years, as part of Compassion Games International, the prison inmates at the California Institution for Women (CIW) tallied 4,500 acts of kindness that included sharing food, cleaning each others’ living spaces, and helping apply sunscreen before going outside. Even when temperatures climbed to 108 degrees in the Corona facility in 2013, the women avoided irritable exchanges and encouraged one another to stay hydrated.
“The Compassion Games allowed gang members, or those who need to maintain an image, to step outside of their ‘roles’ and be kind to others without ridicule,” one inmate said.
During the entire 11 days of the event, kindness was so contagious that no violent incidents were recorded.
Four nonprofits inside CIW, which run dog training and sewing programs, organized the activities, one of which entailed sewing and knitting–on overdrive for 11 days–to create as many items for charity as they could. They created whimsical hats for critically and terminally ill children, and pillows, blankets, and scarves for the homeless or hospitalized veterans.
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