Around the world, people have expressed outrage at the closure of the inspirational Group of Hope, a pioneering South African prison rehabilitation program, in which inmates \"adopt\" AIDS orphans.

Over the last seven years, the members of the Group have changed the lives of scores of children and disabled people in the townships around the prison. In doing so, the men - who are black, white and mixed race; Christian, Muslim, Buddhist and agnostic - have transformed their own lives.

The Group was formed in 2002, in Brandvlei Maximum Security Prison near Cape Town. After attending a talk on AIDS, a few of the inmates decided they must to something to help its victims. They started with just one orphan, then eleven-year-old Thabang, who also had spina bifida. Clad in rags, he was skeletal and covered with sores. After his first visit, the men, astonished, requested their precious civvies clothes from storage. They cut these up, teaching themselves to sew. The next time he visited, they gave him rough but warm jumpers and trousers. Then they planted a vegetable garden. Soon they started helping more orphans, who visited the prison once a month. Today, Thabang is still alive and well, as are many other children, who owe their lives and livelihoods to these men.

The Group of Hope has won numerous awards, including from the World Bank. The Bank\'s Eugenia Marinova, asked to comment personally about the Group, said: \"I\'ve not come across a more effective, efficient and unique initiative than the Group of Hope. The impact is so striking that one wonders why such a simple idea has not been institutionalised. Social workers and psychologists from many countries where I have presented the project have expressed keen interest in learning and adopting such practices.\"

And yet, giving no reason, South Africa\'s Ministry of Correctional Services, has abruptly closed the Group. A recent article - http://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-09-07-prison-initiative-arrested - cites infighting and jealousy as part of the reason. Officials cannot be reached for comment.

Next year, South Africa will welcome millions of people from around the world to the 2010 World Cup. Two of the country\'s biggest problems - AIDS and crime - will also be under the spotlight. South Africa desperately needs solutions to these, and the Group of Hope, though small, could not be more inspirational.

Whether you are South African, African or from anywhere else in the world, if you care about giving hope and second chances to those who have so little and so few, please sign this petition to request the reinstatement of the Group of Hope. Then please send it on. We are aiming for 10,000 signatures, which will be submitted to South Africa\'s Minister of Correctional Services.

More information and photographs can be found at www.groupofhope.co.za