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| San Sebastian women prison in Cochabamba |
As part of our ministry at Manos Con Libertad, Hong and I often accompany other staff members to different prisons in Cochabamba. This past month, we visited San Sebastian, a women prison located near the bus terminal and, if you're not a local "Cochabambino", it's hard to notice the entrance to the "carcel".
Prisons in Bolivia are always overcrowded, but not only with adults. More
often than not, the entire families ended up in jail because children had
nowhere to go when their parents were arrested. Under the country's
legislation, children under six years are allowed to stay in their parents'
cells. However, these children
normally remain in jail until they are much older, simply "because nobody
else can care for them".
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| Boys and girls living in prison with their parents |
Manos Con Libertad is a
cooperative with San Sebastian and thus our staff come to visit the prison
weekly to teach the women some simple and essential skills. These skills hopefully can help them find works and earn money after being released and even while in jail. Each month, a different workshop is taught and for this month, the topic is how to market and promote products in a small business.
When we arrived, about 20 women were already waiting for us in the prison's makeshift classroom. These women, aged between 20 and 40, came from different backgrounds and ethnic groups, some looked quite young and at least two of them were holding a baby in their hands. Before the workshop, certificates of completion were
given to those who completed previous workshop in Leadership (Curso de Liderazgo).
Each certificate equals 4 hours that would be counted toward the prison sentence, even though I was not sure how much actual prison time would be reduced from their
sentence.
Today's workshop is about marketing thus
we divided the women into 4 groups. Each group consists of five prisoners and
two missioners or volunteers who will only act as observers. First, the women were
taught the meanings and powers of the 4P's:
Price, Product, Place and Promotion (in spanish as Precio, Producto, Plaza
& Promoción). Each group was then given two items from different brand of
hotdogs, cookies, yogurts and soft drinks. The women studied their products in
details such as price, weight, expiration and manufacturing date... Then a
representative of each group will try to promote their products by giving out
samples, explaining the products and answering questions from other groups. The
representatives promoted their products so well that I felt like they already had some experience in
sales and marketing.
The trip to San
Sebastian somehow opened my eyes about the legal and criminal justice system in
Bolivia as well as many social problems related to it. According to Human Rights
Watch, at least 78 percent of
inmates in Bolivian prisons had not been convicted of a crime. Extended
pretrial detention and trial delays have led to increased overcrowding and poor
conditions in prisons.
(Click on the link below to learn more about women prisons in Bolivia)
https://youtu.be/Mx-tjMgNPSA
Today's workshop is about marketing thus
we divided the women into 4 groups. Each group consists of five prisoners and
two missioners or volunteers who will only act as observers. First, the women were
taught the meanings and powers of the 4P's:
Price, Product, Place and Promotion (in spanish as Precio, Producto, Plaza
& Promoción). Each group was then given two items from different brand of
hotdogs, cookies, yogurts and soft drinks. The women studied their products in
details such as price, weight, expiration and manufacturing date... Then a
representative of each group will try to promote their products by giving out
samples, explaining the products and answering questions from other groups. The
representatives promoted their products so well that I felt like they already had some experience in
sales and marketing.
I was assigned to a group of 5 women, probably in their
30s, promoting hot dogs from two different local brands. Our representative was a
pretty and real funny woman named Leidy. She explained the products well and
even told jokes about how hot dogs could help improve a man's love life! The
women seemed to enjoy the workshop and product samples from other
groups. They laughed and chatted and had quite a great time among themselves. We
then had lunch together and finally the workshop ended with a reading from the Bible
and a short prayer led by a member of Manos Con Libertad.
After lunch, I came to talk to Leidy and learned that
she was originally from Colombia and was arrested while trying to transport
drug for a Colombian cartel. She had been in San Sebastian a little more than 4
months and had about 20 more days before being released. I was quite surprise
about the light sentence given to a "mule" who was trying to smuggle
drug across the border. I guess the problem of overcrowded prisons in Bolivia must
have something to do with it. Then out of the blue, Leidy asked if Hong and I ever
had to face any crisis in the US. I jokingly said to her that we only had the kind of crisis that usually happened in long-term marriages. Suddenly, I
saw tears in her eyes as she walked away saying that her family back home also had
that kind of crisis, even though she was only married for less than a year.
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| Volunteers and staff members of Manos Con Libertad |
For now, we just hope that our visits to San Sebastian and the many
workshops that Manos Con Libertad provide will help bring some hope to these
incarcerated women who had lost everything, including their family, when they
ended up in one of these horrible places.
(Click on the link below to learn more about women prisons in Bolivia)
https://youtu.be/Mx-tjMgNPSA
