Work Has Started!
Day three and progress is bustling: the roof of the first chamber has been removed, prisoners are busy scrubbing the walls, the construction crew has hoisted into place wooden roof beams, the wind ventilators are chugging up from Antananarivo via express mail, the water pipes and compressor are being installed, and bricks, cement, sand have been ordered so that the disaster of a kitchen can be rehabilitated. I get exhausted just thinking of it all. Hanitra and Elson's son Maoly has been zooming around with our contractor Francel on his motorbike non-stop, ordering supplies, calculating paint coverage, roof measurements and managing every detail with efficiency. His energy is amazing. Leave it to the youth!
I went into the daunting adult men's section this morning to see the progress and as I was leaving, I was stopped by male voices calling out my name.
“Tamara, Mama Tamara.”
I turned around and was met by the two smiling faces of teenagers I had known from last year. They had since turned 18 and had been transferred to the men’s section. I inquired about their experience and they admitted it was “very hard.” Other prisoners gathered around to take part in the conversation, seeming supportive of "my boys".
"Mahareza," I said, "Be strong. It's just 2 more years and you'll be out."
I felt sad, but also hopeful, a mother hen needing somehow to protect her chicks. I wondered if they would make it, if they would be among the subset of kids who find their way back to life after their sentences are served. Or would they bounce back in, because they don't have that vital family support that eludes so many.
