Aranjuez Prison

Eric, Nancy, Angela, Blanca, Marisol, Salvador and Joey

Donated food

Saturday, June 18, 2011

A different day

7:00 am on a Saturday…normally I sleep until 10 am (my son allowing, of course) but not today. On this very early Saturday I got up, got dressed and drove to the US Embassy in Madrid.

When I arrived there I met a very excited group of people and we teamed up to transport an endless amount of bags and more bags of all sorts of toys, clothes, books and electronics into the 6 cars that were lined up in the Embassy parking lot.

While the activities moved along, under the direct supervision and assistance of Susan and Ambassador Solomont, the sun’s brightness was telling us that it was time to take off to our destination in Aranjuez.

The Centro Penitenciario Madrid VI, also known as the Cárcel de Aranjuez, is located about 1 hour drive from Madrid and hosts around 60 children from ages 0 to 3. They are allowed the chance to spend this time of their lives with their incarcerated mothers and sometimes also the fathers.

According to the NGO volunteers who work with the inmates, the prison environment, free from the everyday life routines, is stressful for the children, who are forgoing the stress of living indoors and supervised.

Our mission that Saturday was to relieve this burden, just for a bit……

After passing the security control for the entry of the 6 loaded cars we headed to the main entrance, where after waiting a bit, Javier (our prison contact) came and provided instructions.

The 7 volunteers started to unload the cars and place the donations in the entrance. We were told that prison personnel would come by later to pick them up and take them to the warehouse, where they would then be distributed to the modules. The quantity of things impressed our contact and he thanked us profusely.

Next step was to provide our ID cards to the first prison control. Then a second time and a third….after the forth gate opened, we were finally where we were supposed to be…at the Children’s module!

A field of lavender greeted us at the entrance, along with paintings on the walls and flowers everywhere. A very different scenario than what most of our inexperienced eyes could imagine on how a prison would look like……this was indeed much nicer than expected.

The last door led us to a garden with many toys, a small pool, and a school decorated with all sorts of craft works done by the children that spend their days there.

Maria, the kindergarten’s coordinator and teacher greeted us and showed us around.

When I saw the lined-up cribs and small toilet seats in the bathroom my heart was so shaken that I had to look down so people would not realize that I was holding back tears.  It looked like my son’s school, but it contained such a different story…

It was already 10:30 am so that meant that it was time! The activities were going to start!

“Let’s move to the patio and introduce ourselves!” said our team leader and coordinator Nancy.

With the help of a microphone and Nancy’s happy voice, our teams of volunteers were introduced and we started to get organized on our activities.

“Angela and Marisol with the art and crafts over there! Blanca and Salvador with story-telling over here! And Eric and Joey playing soccer on the grass!” 

 Little Antonio came over and looked at me with big brown eyes, skeptical in the beginning; but after 2 seconds looking at the colorful puzzle mat that I was putting together, this 18 months-boy smiled and sat down next to me.

Then along came little Leonor, with her orange dress, specially cleaned for this day as she also had the pleasure to see her father and spend time with him. Every color she chose and every balloon she played with were orange, just like her dress. I’ll never forget how lovely she looked among all colors, and how happy her father was for seeing her play.
Laura was the youngest helper a volunteer could have asked for! She could not even speak and was already organizing the other children and putting the crayons, very nicely, inside the box and out. Amazing how kids can communicate without knowing how to use words.

In the back of my mind I hear a child scream and cry. She had placed her painted fingers inside her mouth and the blue paint was not very tasty. We quickly helped to clean her up to get her back to the activities.

The hand paint was a success and as a result we could see the big panel posted on the wall with all the colored little hands and the 10 pieces of colored paper that were already filled with abstract drawings expressing the creativity of these little ones. My hair, face and pants also could speak for themselves as I was covered in red paint….red…like the color of my heart’s happiness.

The next game offered to the children was to blow soap bubbles. Needless to say that it was madness!

In seconds the room was filled with small, medium and large bubbles being blown by the parents and some by the kids themselves. Along with them, we blew up colored balloons that flew into the air as we rolled onto the next activity. We danced to the songs that were playing in the speakers with colored papers in our hands that we made into waves that were held by some of the participants; some were shy to join in the dance parade but their interested looks motivated us to continue as they clapped their hands to the rhythm.

All of this activity opens up one’s appetite!... just in time for a small snack offered by the prison…. jamón, cheese, olives, empanadas and soft drinks….a typical Spanish appetizer just before their lunch was served.

Our volunteers arranged for special desserts for that day for all children. Amazing cakes and juices wrapped up our contribution.

As we were saying goodbye to our new friends, Maria gave us beautiful drawings done by the children along with a bouquet of lavender for each of us.

It was then that I realized……they gave me the greatest gift…the best piece of their world. And we had left the best piece of ours.

While leaving I knew I was a different person than the one that had entered two hours ago. This is what happens when you visit a prison. It is impossible to leave untouched.

As I drove back to my comfortable and happy home I realized how lucky I was for the choices I’ve done and will always have on my prayers the names and faces I met today, hoping that their future is also filled with good choices.

It was indeed a different day……..

By Angela Turrin