It was a really sad situation at this prison. All the men suffered mental disorders to various degrees. Some minor, and some severe. They have committed crimes and are being help here until their cases make it to court. Many of them were like children, very simple and just wanting attention. They loved to paint and wanted to show us all their drawings. Some of them were almost completely normal, just something was slightly off in their brains. These guys would tell us how hard it was to be at this place, surrounded by others who had serious issues. Its like they have to fight to keep their sanity.
There was not a very good area for us to perform, since the whole building was very run down, but we were able to find a little spot out on some grass. They brought out groups of prisoners and we were able to share many simple, but beautiful things with them. They really got the idea of the butterfly coming out of a cocoon. At the end one man, named Paulo, was actually brave enough to ask for the microphone and thank us in front of the whole crowd. He shared how he had never gotten a visitor and that his birthday was in a few days and us coming was the best gift he could get. It was really touching and the director and social workers were so shocked that he was able to speak like this in front of everyone.
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