David is a prisoner at the Otago Corrections Facility (OCF) at Milburn who is nearing release.
He and 19 others are living in five self-care units, similar to flats, to give them the chance to prepare for release by learning skills they have ignored or possibly never had.
He and the others recently graduated from the 11-week Next Steps course which teaches prisoners how to cook, budget for the meals they cook, and the nutritional values of those meals.
They have also been shown how to budget, wash and iron clothes, and given tips on subjects from personal hygiene to preparing their CVs, conducting job interviews, banking and finance.
The graduates prepared their own pot-luck tea on Wednesday night and dined with tutors and prison management to celebrate what David calls the end of a successful journey.
Upskilling prisoners with the ‘‘basics'' they will need when released was the main aim of the course, OCF programmes manager, Sandy Stoddart said.
But most also seemed to gain confidence and David had rediscovered his love of cooking after having all his meals made for him in the prison's other wings.
‘‘I used to just turn up to meals and eat what they gave us.
‘‘Here, I could have a say in what the actual meal was. I would buy the ingredients, make the meal and eat it.
‘‘It's completely different,'' he said.
David, who has spent more than six years behind bars, found life hard in the normal wing environment and could not be bothered to make any effort to improve himself or to learn new skills.
‘‘I would have been quite happy to stay here another 20 years, to be honest.''
There seemed little point for a time, but life in the self-care unit had ‘‘opened'' his eyes and made him realise he needed certain skills to ‘‘make a go of it'' when he was released.
His first appearance before the Parole Board is early next year.
The units provide a flatting situation. There is a television, separate bedroom for each prisoner, and a well-appointed kitchen, all designed, Mr Stoddart said, to create ‘‘as real an environment as possible''.
In the living centre, which is the focal point and gathering place for all self-care unit prisoners, there is another television, sofas and even a pool table.
Mr Stoddart said the units were not luxury for prisoners but some ‘‘reward'' for having reached the final part of their sentence.
David said the extra responsibilities given to him had made him a better person and that much more ready to deal with life ‘‘for real when I get out''.
He loves cooking, especially pastry work, and is considering taking tertiary cooking courses when released.
