I would never have believed we would ever have had a reunion here in Hay, but it happened and brought about revealing the truth the "State Secret" aired on the Stateline channel first in 2004 when I and my sister and two other ex-Hay Girls returned to expose the truth.
That Hay Institution for Girls should never have been a place for further training. It was a place of hell the treatment was far too harsh and unimaginable, for teenage girls as young as 14. It was out in the middle of no-where but open plains wheat fields, cattle and baron land. It still stands like a monument of fear with its solid sandstone walls and rich red brick the Hay Gaol, with its watch-towers and single cell block of 14 cells, with iron doors and small window facing the sky, with the isolation block standing alone and the faint red painted dots barely noticeable only to an ex-Hay girl around the circumference of the compound of the gaol.
Marking the spot where as teenagers we had to stop marking time six feet apart from each other, till told to stop and stand at ease, its open to the public today as a museum and only one cell left as it was in our day. One iron bed, one table and seat bolted to the wall, with a bible on the table. The rest of the cells are filled with artifact from the area and other historical items. But today we have a dedicated Plaque which says "Let no child walk this path again" this was placed during the reunion and I'm proud to have been a survivor and to have been a part of helping in the organizing of the reunion, and of meeting the local people and teenagers living here in the community of Hay.
