I had been in contact with the office that runs the prisons in Montevideo and they organized four prisons in one week. Our first prison was a women’s prison, way out in the middle of no where. It is actually an abandoned hospital and looked like a condemned building. Seriously, it was like something you would see in a World War2 movie after a town was bombed.
Because they get practically NO visitors or events here, the guards at the main gate had no idea how to go about letting us in. First they sent us to the back of the prison where there was an overgrown fence guarded by the army who had no keys to it and no way to let us in. Then when we returned they finally called the main office and arranged for us to get in. The court where we where to perform on was locked by a separate lock which no one could find the key for. After about 30min, they found the key but the lock would still not open since it was so rusted. It was like no one cared at all about these women and they were just hidden away and forgotten of by society. My brother had tools and WD40 so we were able to eventually get the lock open.
We ended up having a beautiful time, doing multiply performances and reaching the whole prison. Some of the women where really touched and extremely grateful. This one beautiful young women had gone to a university and was into photography when a guy asked if she would be interested in traveling to Brazil to film a documentary. She was thrilled since she could never afford a trip like that on here own. She had no idea that they planted drugs in her suitcase and then set her up to take the fall of a drug smuggling ring. Now she was here in this cursed place. I was so happy to have some special little things to give these women and bring them hope.
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