Prison Visit - Quito Ecuador

Am in Quito now and have just had a great experience visiting the womans prison there. I got the info from krazykatie who post here (thanks a lot). For those who are interested, you can go on Wed Sat and Sun arvos. You need to take your passport. Ask the taxi to take you to the Carcel de las Mujerers, en Ave El Inca y 6 de Diciembre - the taxi cost 2.30 usd from Ave amazonas.

When you get out, know on the door and the guards will let you in. They will ask you who you are visiting, and I just said the foreigners. They took my details and passports and I went to the serach area. The search was ok, but I had to exit the prison and give my phone and camera to the little shop across the road - cost 1 usd and they give you a little tag. Went back across and into the search area again.

After that, we went through to the visit area, and got another stamp on my arm, and then inside. It was really interesting. Met Jasime from the USA (on the advice of krazykatie). She has been there for 5 years and hopes to get out soon. There was a friend of her called virginia from Argentina as well. They took us for a tour and saw the washing and sports area, bakery, chapel, library, small shops (ie for CDs) and their rooms. They sleep 2 to a room. The girls were really friendly, and there were a fair few people visiting.

It is quite casual, and you can get a meal there if you want. Pls, if you go, try and take (we asked the girls what they would like); smokes, toilet paper, food, drinks, magazines etc. They basically said anything that you would like, and that would be appreciated. You can also buy small arts and crafty type things there. The gilrs work there if they want and for eg Jasine used to earn 5 usd a week in the bakery.

There are girls there from USA, Sth Africa (met one briefly), Thailand, most country´s in sth america and spain.

It really is an interesting thing to do, and the girls really appreciate being able to talk to someone new and break the monotony. If you want more ino PM me or post ur questions here. Regards (and thanks krazykatie)

If anyone wants to PM me too then feel free, just to add my two pence worth the prison visit was one of the highlights of my 5 months in South America, largely because it was unlike anything else I did while there. I particularly enjoyed talking to Jasmine as she was so honest, she's very upfront about why she did it and how her life is now.

Did she tell you why she was in there? Sounds very interesting and if I make it back to Quito I will try to visit...

She (and most) are there for being drug mules. She was caught with 6 or 7 kgs of heroin at the border.

I never did a prison visit whilst I was in Quito as it's not for me, but I spoke with a number of people who worked/visited them. The foreigners get a lot of visitors from tourists, whilst the Ecuadorians don't. In some prisons (I don't know if it's all) you have to pay for accommodation, so the foreigners have nice rooms whilst those that have no money live in over-crowded shitholes, and their children live there too... Prostitution and drug use is a huge problem within the prisons, and many of the gifts/money given by tourists are used to buy drugs and prison tourism is becoming a big business. One prisoner injures himself and then cons tourists into giving him money for medical treatment, which is actually used to fund his huge drug addiction. Just some information you should consider before doing these visits...

It isn't the case in the Quito women's prison that the foreigners have nicer rooms (although Jasmine has a TV etc which her mum shipped over to her), rooms are allocated depending on behaviour and when I was there the girls I met were on the second worst wing. The girls were getting a visitor about once every 2 months when I was there which I hope has increased now.

There aren't any children living in the prison, nor do the prisoners pay for accomodation (I don't think that to be the case in Ecudorian prisons although it certainly is in other South American countries). There is drug use in the prison and men have been known to visit for sex. The girls said that the prison in Guyaquil which is a mixed prison is a lot worse in terms of drug use and violence and advised us under no cirunstances to visit there.

The only money we were asked for inside the prison was 25 cents from the girl who had found the foreigners for us.

Visit a prison? What made you decide to visit a prison?

no thanks. Theyre there for a reason and should serve their sentence without pity.

Jasmines room wasnt in the nice block. We were no allowed up that one. There were a lot more Ecuadorians there than foreigners. We were asked for 50 cents as per Katie to find the foreigners, we were not asked for any other money, however I did give them smokes..

I visited El Inca two years ago to bring the children toys, clothes, shoes, etc. collected from our church and community, and basic necessities (toiletries, laudry detergent, toilet paper, etc.) for the women. I was shown around by the women, and given a tour of some of their "rooms," barely the size of some of our closets at home, and was then treated to a meal that they cooked for us in the kitchen in their wing. The saddest part is all the children living there with their mothers -- Yes, there were between 200 and 300 children living there inside the prison walls when I was there. And with the poverty, prostitution, rape, violence, and appalling living conditions, along with the women's low self-esteem, many more children continue to be conceived within those walls, by both guards and visitors taking advantage of the women's hopeless situation. God help the women who report the rapes -- their lives will be made even more miserable!

Yes, a lot of these women are there for good reason. But there are also a lot who have been imprisoned for years without even a trial, that were unknowing drug mules for friends/boyfriends who tried to hide drugs in their luggage without their consent. Some people may say, "Oh sure, that old story!" But it happens, and it happens more than most people realize. It's not easy to find enough "willing" people to carry illegal drugs, so the unscrupulous make "friends" with those they know will be traveling, or "fall in love" with some unsuspecting and naive young lady, and these victims become targets to have drugs hidden in their suitcases (either their own or new sets that have been generously given to them). Many is the woman who has been talked into acting as a mule by the man who professed his love to her, and swore it would be "just this one time" to pay off a debt to someone who will otherwise kill him. There are women who have found themselves out of money and without anyone to help them, who have agreed to carry drugs in exchange for money and a ticket home. Are situations like these "OK?" No. But these women made mistakes, either in their own judgement or trusting someone they shouldn't have, or allowing themselves to be coerced by someone taking advantage of them.

So you can't just make a blanket statement that they're all there for a reason and should serve their time. It's just not like that. The prison system there is so different from anything we know. There are no rights to speak of, there's no pat set of rules for justice and fair treatment. Heck, there's not even a guarantee of a trial! And if you have a release date coming up, don't count on actually walking out the door that day. I know one woman who anxiously awaited her scheduled release date, had all her stuff packed, waited, and was then told on that day, "Sorry, your release has been postponed." She wasn't given a reason, and still hadn't had a trial, and was not given any future release date either. That's what the system is like.

I won't even get into the life of the children living there -- it breaks your heart, the things that go on against those little ones!

Where is El Inca? I assume this is a different prison than what Bickerss and krazykatie refer to. The situation you've described is absolutely heart-rending.

As for the prison mentioned in OP, had you guys already heard of these particular girls or did you just ask to see any foreigners? From your remarks about them being friendly and looking for a way to break the monotony, it seems they are not particularly mistreated...correct?

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.

They said they were treated well and didnt suffer any abuse. I asked to see any foreigner, but knew about Jasmine from Crazy.