Friday, August 04, 2006

Bolle Prison


I spent three days in an all women's prison. Now anyone that knows me might ask "what did she do now?" Well have no fear I was not in for anything except documenting the area and yet another round of Here Bolo. Maddie, Bay, Ramatoulaye, and Malick spent the days talking to the women about the five points of Here Bolo. Most of the women are in prison for prostitution, or killing their babies. It truly is poverty stricken cases. Out of fifty women, four could read. So the survey was taken and then we discussed with everyone the misconceptions of transmission, and the access to care if they were HIV positive. At the end they were given tshirts with the Here Bolo message, and surprisingly enough we were asked to come back, test them for HIV, and visit another ward of the prison.
Bolle is not like your typical prison. Women are allowed to have their children on the grounds and there are facilities for day care. They also farm all the food that is consumed on the grounds. Corn, millet, eggs, etc. To top it off they have a seperate area that women can sew clothes and make soap. This concept was conceived by the warden Madaam Diarra. The concept being that the women don't feel as though they are in prison, but learning tools and rehabilitating themselves to be able to go out in the world and make a living. Madaam Diarra is a tough cookie with a heart of gold. The women seem to admire her. This is as much as I can tell as they speak Bambera, which is then translated to French and then the French is translated to English for me. All in all it was a great time. The people seem to enjoy our company and the message of GAIA once again was well perceived.

  • Bolle Prison Photos
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