There are those among us who are shining light in the darkest of dark places. In this episode, we speak with Saskia Niño de Rivera, who is basically a one-woman revolution to reform the Mexican penal system. Through her organization, Reinserta, Saskia works with kidnappers, incarcerated mothers and children brought up in prison as well as teenagers released from prison who need extra support among others. After experiencing a family member’s kidnapping, Saskia at a very young age began questioning what happens in someone’s life to make them commit violence. That early recognition of criminals as human beings has evolved into her work that looks to improve from the inside out an institution that keeps people caught in a cycle of crime. Listening to her story, we were in awe at not only how much Saskia has done in her short lifetime to make a real difference in what many would see as an impossible system to change, but also how she looks to create change through igniting compassion. 00.35 Who is Saskia?2.32 “Basically she is a one woman revolution changing the entire mexican penal system” Kristen3.20 “Mexicans are very much in contact with the violence in their country.” Saskia4.00 “The different events of my life have definitely formed me and helped me to understand life in a different manner. I think the key is having the humility to look at the opportunities that you are confronted with on a day by day basis as opportunities. And once you fill with narcisism you don´t get to see those opportunites.” Saskia5.00 Speaking from privilege, not just economically6.10 Different type of realities that Mexico has. 6.45 Kidnapping story 7.20 Sunday is a family day for everyone “I started to see a pattern where the phone didn´t ring on Sundays. And I remember the third Sunday that it didn´t ring. I started to question myself, ´why aren´t the kidnappers calling on Sundays? What happens on Sundays that the kindappers don´t call on Sundays?´ And it was really interesting because Sunday is a family day. It´s a day you go to church. It´s a day you have family over in your house. It´s day of rest. Its a day of, in the catholic religion, which most mexicans have. It was interesting because it was the first ´aha moment´, if we can say if that way of, these people are not monsters that have two heads and six arms. They´re people just like any of us and the first reflextion was, ´What did these people go through in their life in order to think that they can take the life of someone in their hands and exchange it for money?´” Saskia8.40 Profiling kidnppers in Mexico. “If something I know for sure is that we are co-responsible for the country that we have. And if we don´t think that the violence and the injustice in our country is that, then we are in a huge error. It is very easy to say them, but we don´t say us. From a perspective on, what have we done to really stop the violence and to create equal opportunities?” Saskia9.50 “There has to be justice. But if we want to talk about prevention, if we want to talk about stopping the violence then we really have to think of justice and criminal justice from a different perspective and I think that is what we are trying to do.” Saskia10.30 Work is based on empathy11.10 Does violence equal crime? 11.40 Growing up in violent environment and normalizing crime 12.20 “These kids were recruited to kill by the age of 8, 9 and 10 years of age. My biggest reflextion on this has to do with if you have and eight year old kid that is commiting a crime and has a gun in his hand he is everything but guilty. There is a society around him that is completely guilty.” Saskia 12.53 “In general, the violence that we live, and not only in Mexico but in many parts of the world, is seen from a punitive kind of glass. ´Once you commit the crime I am going to punish you, but whatever happens to you before is not my problem.´I think that is where we really have to make a reflextion on. It that the way to really stop the violence