Zhang Xiang (not his real name) sits quietly beside Cao Zhenglin who is sweating after making the trip to prison during Shanghai's summer heat wave. Cao has bought gifts of soap and a letter-writing pad to Zhang, a prisoner in the jail.

This simple "friendship" between the two has been going on for almost three years. Cao is one of some 1,200 volunteers in Shanghai whose chosen community work is to help prisoners.

To better aid the rehabilitation of prisoners, Shanghai justice authorities launched a program in 1995 to recruit volunteers to pair up with prisoners.

Cao first began the volunteer work in prisons in 2000 as part of his community work.

"Our community is located near the Huangpu River in Yangpu District and is relatively poor compared with other ones in the city," he said. "Most houses are nearly a century old and some streets are so narrow only one person can pass at a time. But today, the residents are well educated."

In the community of more than 4,500 residents, prisoners or residents with criminal records total more than 30.

"The figure showed something was very wrong and was affecting social order in the area," Cao said.

In a bid to achieve a better and safer community, Cao and more than 50 other residents contacted the prison system through the Yangpu District Government.

"Those whom we paired up with in prison are all residents from our community," Cao said. "We keep in touch through letters. Occasionally, we also visit them."

Zhang, 40, is one of two prisoners with whom Cao has formed personal ties. Zhang was sentenced to 11 years in jail in 1997 after being found guilty of causing intentional injury to others. In Cao's eyes, Zhang had long been a well-behaved person who had accidentally gone astray.

"He was warm-hearted and helped others and he was very obedient to his parents as the family's youngest child," Cao said of Zhang.

However, after Zhang was imprisoned, his family fell on hard times.

"My eldest brother died before I went into prison because of illness, and my father died soon after I entered prison," Zhang said.

"How can parents endure such blows?" Cao said. "The father's hair almost turned grey overnight after his youngest son was arrested."

To make it worse, Zhang's two other elder brothers who were in poor health were laid off and the whole family had to survive on the mother's pension.

"As neighbors, we could see the old woman cooking a huge pot of rice or porridge in the morning which had to be enough for three meals a day for the whole family," Cao said.

Through talks with Zhang, Cao learned that what Zhang was worried about most while he was in prison was his mother. This became the starting point of Cao's activities on Zhang's behalf.

The community acted quickly to provide a monthly subsidy of several hundred yuan (US$ 1=8.3 yuan) to the family and Cao wrote to Zhang to let him know of the improvement.

"Zhang's mother was a strong-willed woman and she told me many times that she would wait for Zhang to return. Her youngest son was the biggest hope of her life," Cao said.

However, the mother, in her 70s, died last July.

"It was on July 16. I collapsed at the news." Zhang recalled. "I had been determined to return to her and let her remaining years be peaceful. All our misfortunes started with me."

He clearly remembers his mother's two visits. He was torn between wanting to see his mother more and worrying about the effect the visits would have on her health.

After her death, and to ease Zhang's grief, Cao proposed to the prison authorities that Zhang be allowed to attend her funeral. Two days later, Zhang was granted a four-hour long outing to participate the funeral.

Because of his good behavior, Zhang's term has been cut by two years.

"I do not know how to express my appreciation to Cao," Zhang said. "I will make every effort to ensure my family live better."

(China Daily July 25, 2003)