The El Inca prison is in Quito. There's a women's building (where women and children are incarcerated), and there's also a men's building. I believe there's another prison in the Quito area, but I'm not sure.
In planning my trip to Ecuador in '05 to visit a little boy I'm sponsoring there, learned of the children housed with their mothers at El Inca, and did further research to find out more. It became a sort of "mission trip" for me, as the plight of these children touched my heart and soul. I shared the info with my church and community, and collected toys and clothes to bring for the children, and money for buying supplies for the women once I arrived in Quito. From online searches, I established a contact with a woman doing prison ministry at El Inca (Bible studies, and helping the women with a card-making business to earn money "respectably" to raise their self-esteem and living conditions). She arranged for housing during the days I visited in Quito to accompany her to the prison, and even pulled strings to allow me to bring a camera inside. I got to meet a lot of the women, and gave children personal items from my own pockets (literal treasures for them!). I was so warmly received by these particular women, but it was hard to not be "uneasy" about all that was around me... young children obviously trained for prostitution, using seductive gestures to let me know they were "available," women romantically involved with each other in the hallways and open areas, children acting as if they were possessed, ranting and raving incoherently... all very sobering. Yet, when we retreated to the room given us for the Bible studies, the love was so outpouring. The women craved the connection they all had, and there was a unity and openness of trust and caring that just didn't seem to mesh with the circumstances in the rest of prison. Not all the women in the group were "believers," but they came regularly because it was a safe place and they felt good just knowing that someone cared about them and loved them. Despite the miserable living conditions, these women all had an amazing joy and hope, something to cling to, something to remind them that they were human beings worthy of being loved.
I must say that I was a changed person after my visits there, and I layed awake nights trying to process all that I saw and experienced. It's just such a different world. I want to return, but travel is SO expensive. It's no problem collecting donations of clothing, toys, and small amounts of monies for buying supplies, but the price of an airline ticket is from my own pocket, and I just don't have the resources. Somehow, though, I hope to set a goal to return in 2008.
If anyone would like to go to my blog and read of my ecuador adventure (with pictures), contact me for the website address.
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darylann
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