2009 Annual Report

Gabriela Pacheco, our Coordinator, continues to do a wonderful job. Her right arm is Eleazar Hachá, who came to us as a Jesuit Volunteer for a year and stayed to become the backbone of the team, which also includes others from the community who help out when they can.

Gabriela and Eleazar traveled to several major Mexican cities in 2009 to sell inmates’ crafts at craft fairs. These trips took them away from the prison at times, leaving the Servants’ Council to run some activities without them. Fortunately, the 2009-2010 Servants’ Council was stronger than ever and took the initiative to carry out activities! This is a welcome change; previously, nothing would happen in the prison if a team member wasn’t present.

The Servants’ Council is unusual in another way: there are three women on the Council (Xhunashi, Alicia and Rosalba) and all of them are quite active.

The fundraising inside the prison continues to improve. Fairs on the basketball court, with food for sale and bingo and other games, have become a fixture. In 2009 enough money was raised through fairs and raffles to repair the prison chapel roof, which had leaked a lot during the previous rainy season.

The year 2009 brought three new areas of focus of the ministry:

Restorative Justice— a fresh way to look at crime. On February 27 we brought Lorena Perez, a psychologist from Oaxaca City, into the prison to conduct a workshop for inmates, with the help of a woman who was a crime victim. The following day, they held another workshop for people involved in prison ministry from around the state of Oaxaca. (For more information on Restorative Justice, and why we want to integrate it into the ministry, please see the separate article.)

Gardening— Bill Williams (Tequio Foundation Board member) and Linda Reeve, landscape architects and longtime supporters of the ministry, visited at the end of February and planted a garden in the prison! They worked with inmates to plant potted flowers and shrubs, vegetable seeds and flower seeds throughout the prison, in planter boxes made by the inmates. We had soil and sand trucked in, and they mixed in sawdust from the prison carpentry shops and coffee grinds from the prison kitchen. Bill and Linda marveled at the friendly reception they received in the prison and the helpful hands that appeared whenever they needed them. As Bill writes, they experienced “a partnership of involvement that pulled us so close so quickly – nothing like a little sweating and dreaming together for bonding.”

Recycling and composting—Patrick Lairson (son of Kathy Lairson, Tequio Foundation Board President) volunteered at the prison in June and July, setting up a program to recycle plastic bottles and turn food scraps into compost. The huge consumption of soft drinks in plastic bottles had doubled the volume of garbage produced, forcing the city garbage truck to make an extra visit to the prison every week. Food waste in the garbage attracted flies and caused strong odors—and the garbage area is right behind the prison chapel! Working with our inmate Servants’ Council and the inmates’ garbage collection team, Patrick arranged for recycling receptacles to be placed around the prison and the plastic bottles sold to a recycling company next door to the prison! Then he helped inmates build a compost bin from a barrel; now there is fertilizer for the flowers, shrubs and vegetables planted in February!

These are in addition to activities that have become traditions in the prison:
•Gifts for children on Three Kings’ Day (Epiphany) on January 6 and Children’s Day on April 30
•The Passion Play on Good Friday
•Blessing of the new Servants’ Council on Pentecost
•Workshops on law and human rights given by interns in the Summer
•Prisoners’ Day on September 24
•The “Olympics” in November— three-legged races and other fun competitions.
•The Posadas from December 16-24
•Weekly worship
•Weekly choir rehearsal
•Weekly legal advising
•Weekly children’s workshops
•A community bulletin board that is updated with new material every month
•Occasional workshops on health
•Talent shows throughout the year

Such a wealth of activities enriches a great deal of lives; out of a prison population of about 500 men and women, about 200 people participate in one or more activities, and the rest of the population benefits too, from the better environment created in the prison.

In August 2009, after 10 years of the Oaxaca Prison Ministry, Aurelia and I began an extended visit to the States. Please be assured that I continue to supervise the ministry; I check in regularly with Gabriela to advise her and cheer her on. My absence provides an opportunity for our staff to grow, lessening their dependence on my direct intervention. We are confident that with your continued support the ministry will continue to thrive!

Paul Riek
General Director
Oaxaca Prison Ministry