Peruvian Jail on the Side

I just got back from inscribing 15 incarcerated guys into a class at the Piura jail. A lawyer friend and I put together a 4 session class on business planning including lots of activities on developing leaderships skills and self esteem. I had been putting off writing about this on the blog entirely because my mom is going to flip out. But, I'm so excited to be starting. We have class every Tuesday morning in the month of June. The director of the Piura jail is a psychologist and she's creating all of these progressive therapies for the prisoners. I have been surprised at how progressive it is.

The facilities are decidedly sub par. The place smells like a sewer and I haven't been allowed into the older cell blocks so I'm sure that the living conditions are frightening. It's overcrowded too. It was built for 1,700 and houses more than 2,000. But, there are two new buildings with living quarters and those are surprisingly good. There are several workshops for carpentry, mechanics, and arts and crafts. There is even an education program for literacy, including a small library.

It's also much more tranquil feeling than Rikers was. I worked for the NYC Health Dept at Rikers for a short while in 2006. There was always an under current of violence and there were frequently ¨lock downs¨ in which all of the guards came rushing out in riot gear and you were just supposed to smash yourself against a wall and not move, potentially for hours until they got the fight or lost inmate sorted out. Rio Seco is more like a small town. Everyone says good morning and good afternoon. The guys cook together and do their laundry in the courtyard together. It seems like the inmate on inmate violence is less there than in Rikers.

This is going to be a really busy few months. I've finally been here long enough and know enough people that I can really get into the projects that I've been wanting to do. Five months to go! The question is: how much can I get done in the time remaining?