This afternoon I visited the women's prison in Quito with Clancy. It was definitely an experience! It is customary that you show up with some little gifts, so before entering we bought toilet paper, phone card, sodas, etc. In order to enter you have to have a name of someone who you'd like to visit. The names of many foreign prisoners are listed at the hostels. We chose to visit Zoe Savage, an Irish woman framed for drug trafficing. Before getting into her story, I must explain the social structure and environment in this prison. The place feels much more like a hostal than a prison, with different cells depending on how much money you are willing to pay for rent. There is a nice area, where Zoe lives, which has a locked gate at the front of the hall, and only has two or so people per ¨cell.¨ Her room has a striking resemblence to a college dorm room, with a bed and a loft and tiny closet, nicely decorated and very colorful. We visited the other two sections, which are much rougher. There, women are cramped 7-8 people to a room, allowing for 3 or so per bed. It was explained to us that these sections, referred to as ¨the back¨ are where the drug and alcohol use takes place. Another interesting aspect to the prison is the variety of goods being sold there. Its like a little market, including a mexican resturant, bakery, small goods store and much more. Kids run free throughout the place. These are kids of prisoners growing up in the prison. The majority of the women there were Ecuadorian, however there are a fair number of foreigners, mostly there for drug reasons, some of which are guilty and some of which, like Zoe, are innocent. Many of the prisoners , while not allowed to, have cell phones and even internet. Throughout our conversation Zoe recieved many phone calls from friends and family in Ireland. It seems to be all about how much money you have to bribe the guards. The other crazy thing about the place is that it is the highest secuirity prison in Ecuador, but prisoners run around pretty freely, with the drug users and murders mixed in together. However, it must be said that I never once felt unsafe, and it truley did not feel like a prison, and much more like a rundown housing development/market. Many foreign prisoners mention that with the option of being tranferred to a prison in their home country, they would prefer to stay in Ecuador, due to the life with no bars, and instead dorm style rooms and a relaxed environment, relatively speaking. I wish I could post some photos of the place, but there were no cameras allowed inside.
We sat in the kitchen of Zoe's hall and she told us her story. She was working for the BBC and doing some filming in Ecuador. She was traveling with two cameramen, who were trafficing cocaine by lacing it in all in the cameras. While at the airport, she heard her name, and that the authorities were looking for her, over the loadspeakers . She was expecting that maybe something was wrong with her ticket, or some other minor problem. They proceeded to arrest her, giving her no options to do anything, not even a phone call. Meanwhile the two men, knowing what the overhead announcement was about, fled the airport and have not yet been found. Zoe was forced into cells with men in other jails, and escaped rape from guards twice. Finally, after 3 and a half weeks, she was allowed a phone call. Her family had considered her lost and/or dead, since even the embassy was not able to find her. This was over three years ago. The Irish government has become involved and she mentioned that she thinks she may get out in 4 months, however her sentance is suppose to be 8 years. She even mentioned that Oprah Winfrey has caught wind of her story and is trying to do a piece on her. I say trying because when Oprah came to Ecuador to visit Zoe, neither she nor the cameras were allowed inside. Zoe will also be publishing a book on her story upon her release. She has two kids and a husband at home back in Ireland. It was a very enlighting experience, and if I had more time I would visit again. She spoke about how inside the prison you cannot trust anyone, and no one is really your friend, so it is nice when people like us visit, because she feels it is the only time she can truley be herself. I can tell you one thing for sure though, I will be checking my bags thoroughly before loading the plane this Sunday...
