Meeting at the Ministry of Justice

Buying Clothes for the Prison Youth

Another head-shaking day leaving us especially grateful.  Elson, Hanitra and Lalao met with  Mme Volazara Sakina, Inspector-in-Chief of Penitentiary Administration, at the  Ministry of Justice to apply for official permission for me to work in Antalaha Prison under EMM.

Mme Sakina is also the National Director of all the women’s sections in the 84 Malagasy prisons. Earlier she was posted to Antalaha where she spearheaded numerous infrastructure reforms before being promoted to her present position.  

They talked together about the sad state of the prisons in general and she told them that the prison outside of Antananarivo only has the capacity for 3 liters a day of water per prisoner – for drinking, bathing, washing clothes. Amazing how open she was, but I find this true of most prison officials in Madagascar that I have met and worked with.

After they introduced themselves, Mme Sakina immediately recognized my name and listed all of the renovations that had taken place last year. She was especially happy that we put in new toilets for the women, as that was on her list that never got done. Apparently last year, the head of the Antalaha prison, Mr. Tony, had sent her a point by point rundown of all of the renovations. Elson, Hanitra and Lalao were shaking their heads with disbelief, as she recounted even the smallest things like buying clothing for the kids. She was touched that a daughter of a missionary wanted to return to Madagascar to help the people she grew up with and had come to love. The permission document was granted on the spot and she expressed gratitude to us all. We too are very grateful to this remarkable woman.

We are leaving tomorrow for Morondava. Bruce will conduct cardiology, dermatology and ultrasound continuing education training for doctors in the SALFA hospital there. The blog photo is taken outside of the Madagascar American Embassy.