Salvos help Omar find freedom in life
Omar has spent nearly a third of his life in prison – and he is only 27. Nearly all of his teenage years were wasted behind bars, seeing and experiencing things no boy should.
On parole for another eight years, he credits The Salvation Army for his freedom.
“I was always skeptical about counselling, how could just sitting down and speaking with someone help me stay off drugs?” he says. “Well, I don’t know exactly how, but it has!”
When Omar was just 14 he started taking drugs. His parents had split up two years earlier. “I didn’t take this well and could not cope,” he remembers. “I had no one to speak to about it.” He found his escape In marijuana.
“At first, I looked forward to every weekend to sit down with the boys and smoke my magic cure,” he says. “As time went by I found myself wanting this magic herb that made me feel better more and more until it became an everyday thing.”
His addiction soon became unaffordable. Shoplifting became habitual, then Omar moved on to robberies and armed robberies. In 2005, he was arrested for aggravated break-and-enter. He was 15 at the time and, due to the severity of the crime, was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
“My time there was my worst nightmare come to life,” Omar says of his three years at a juvenile detention centre and further four years in an adult jail.
“I got to see the dramas that drugs caused between inmates,” he says. “For the first time, I started to think about the negative impact of drugs. I started to think about what it did to people, I started to think about how it was affecting me, how it affected my family, the grief I had caused them. I also thought about my victims of crime.”
For the first time in his life, Omar experienced remorse. It was the first of many turning points in his recovery.
On release in 2013, Omar's parole conditions included attending The Salvation Army’s FYRST (Follow-on Youth Recovery Support Team) program for young people wanting to address their drug and alcohol issues. Coordinator of the FYRST program in Parramatta, Sharon McIntyre, says that when Omar arrived, it was obvious he wasn’t serious about getting clean.
“He just wanted the easy way out,” says Sharon. “He thought he could use [drugs] as long as he wasn’t re-offending and get away with it.”
Omar agrees. He says his first few months outside of prison were spent back with his “old crew”, wanting to have all the fun he missed out on in jail. Except this time the stakes were higher. His so-called “friends” introduced him to a drug called ice.
It was only a matter of time before Omar landed himself back in jail. On the day of his release for the second time, Omar rang Sharon to arrange a meeting. This time, things were different.
“I said to her, ‘Look Sharon, I don’t want to feel like I’ve been forced to come here by parole. I want to come here for myself.’
“[At FYRST] I've now got a place I can come to every week or every fortnight and you can express your feelings without being judged.”
Omar learned skills to manage his anger, anxiety and stress. He applied for, and was successful in gaining full-time employment. He paid off his State Debt fines. He got his driver’s licence and bought his first car. But Omar says his biggest achievement has been finally making his mother proud.
“My mum sacrificed a lot since I was a teenager. Like coming all the way out to visit me and putting in the time and effort, and it’s nice for me to repay her.”
Omar has completed his parole conditions with FYRST, yet keeps in regular contact with Sharon. She has been his “rock” throughout it all – the first person he could really trust. Omar also continues to enjoy outings on the Client Activity Program with FYRST and has now been off drugs for more than two years.
“Omar walked out of the gates at Bathurst Prison a changed man,” says Sharon. “The Omar that you will meet today is kind, considerate, respectful and has made a commitment to return to his faith. He is his mother’s greatest support and she is grateful to have her son returned to her.”
Omar has lost a lot of time, but isn’t dwelling on the past. “I’ve got goals coming at me left, right and centre!” he says excitedly. “Hopefully, God-willing, [I’ll be able] to have my own place so when I come back from work I can have my own sanctuary ... where I can relax … and then get married and then ... happy days! I can’t ask for anything more.”
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