On 11 and 12 December, the Erasmus+ EcoFarms-4Prisons project partners convened in Cascais, near Lisbon. The participants from Portugal, Italy, Turkey and Germany visited two Portuguese prisons, followed by an intensive day of group work to chart the next steps for the project.
This time, the meeting is hosted by Cascais Ambiente, a “green” municipal service company overseeing waste collection and numerous sustainability projects in the region. One of its notable initiatives is the provision of public vegetable gardens. These plots, “rented” to citizens free of charge, come with training, tools, and seeds for organic cultivation, courtesy of Cascais Ambiente. In return, participants maintain the gardens and donate part of their harvest to families in need. The initiative’s popularity is evident, with 7000 people currently on the waiting list for a plot.
On the morning of December 11, the group boards a bus bound for Tires, a district of Cascais that houses a women’s prison with 400 female inmates.
Cascais Ambiente has established a market garden within the prison grounds, managed by a small group of inmates under the expert guidance of Ricardo Bentes and Ciro Pereira, who were introduced at the Round Table in Witzenhausen.
In the past, the prison used to be run by nuns. Even then, women who had committed offences worked under their supervision on the site, which then was a large farm. Among other things, animals were kept here, and vegetables, fruit and crops were grown. Thirty years ago, there was still a farm here with cattle, sheep, pigs and chickens, but today only relics of former stables can be seen; currently, animal
husbandry is limited to numerous cats, which keeps the rat population under control.
After passing through security, the group traverses the extensive grounds together. Some of the old structures of the former farm can still be seen. The few prisoners we meet greet us in a friendly manner. For the fact that we are in a prison, the atmosphere is actually positive. However, we realise how dramatic the situation can be for the inmates when we pass a kind of kindergarten. The children are allowed to stay with their imprisoned mothers until they are three years old.
Some of the old structures can still be surmised: In the past, the women’s prison in Tires was a large farm where women prisoners did their work under the supervision of nuns. The small building, of which there are several on the site, is a former rabbit hutch. The picture on the right shows the young plant nursery. Potential for the future? – Photos: R. Bentes
Today, a variety of fruits and vegetables are grown in a small area according to the market garden principle. There is a sophisticated composting system and the garden is bordered by trees and shrubs. Produce from the garden, as inmates’ meals are catered externally, is donated to those in need; the two gardeners are financed by the local authority.
Only seven of the more than 400 female prisoners work in the open prison garden. They are taking a break when we arrive. When the weather is bad, Ricardo teaches the women about composting and organic farming – a perfect integration point for the EcoFarms-4Prisons curriculum! Cascais Ambi- ente also grows old, endangered varieties of wheat on the prison’s fields. The director of the prison praises the project. The work in the garden is having a very positive effect on the prisoners and there is a desire and hope to expand it in the coming years. However, there is currently a lack of staff.
The market garden in the women’s prison in Tires; EcoFarms4Prisons project partners and the dedicated colleagues from Cascais Ambiente who run the project
Around midday, the group travelled to the Leiria youth prison, located roughly 180 kilometres north of Lisbon. Upon arrival, a surprise is awaiting: the group is welcomed with lunch served in a large hall lined with impressive wine barrels. The prison produces its own wine. Two inmates prepare and serve a three-course meal. Only a select group of inmates, trusted due to their good behaviour, participate in these activities outside the prison walls.
The wine produced in prison
Almost 400 male youths aged 16 to 21 are imprisoned in Leiria. After dinner, when we walk a few hundred metres into the prison walls, again after having completed security checks, you can feel that a different wind is blowing here than in the women’s prison in Tires. You see significantly more uniformed guards and although this area is also very large and spacious, it still feels more cramped. As we pass the sports field where some of the young men are, I (Ann-Kathrin) am asked to move on quickly.
Then another surprise follows: the group is waved into a building, into a small auditorium where some spectators have already taken their seats. Inmates are sitting on the sides. The room is darkened and a show begins, first with a choir singing accompanied by a young woman on the piano. Next comes a choreography of yoga elements, accompanied by heavy bass music. When two rappers enter the stage, the energy in the room rises. More rap performances from other groups follow. The boys grow bigger on stage, support each other and take it very seriously. Unfortunately, most of us cannot understand the lyrics, but the performances are still moving. You can tell that the young men are talking about their own lives; no one here radiates a sunny disposition. At the end, there is another choir, accompanied by piano and guitar. The audience is included in a canon, the mood becomes lighter again and we leave the room impressed. Meanwhile, a party is being prepared outside, a DJ is playing and non-alcoholic cocktails are being served at an improvised bar. And there is a wish tree to which you can tie notes with wise messages and thoughts. Certainly not an everyday occurrence in the Leiria youth prison. In this context, where you get so close to the young people and they suddenly seem completely normal, the question arises as to what would have become of them if they had grown up in a different environment.
The cultural landscape around the youth prison of Leiria – here too there used to be a farm belonging to the prison
As if there weren’t enough surprises, we are then led to a building with the words “Crickets for Freedom” written on it. And indeed: inside is a locust farm that is being built. The animals are growing in climate-controlled cabinets, and an unpleasant smell is in the air. A young entrepreneur has recently started breeding the insects here, and inmates are helping him with his work. In the future, they will be used to produce food: the dried locusts will be processed into protein-rich flour. What can the young men learn here? Above all, how to manage their emotions, says the young entrepreneur. But the trade could also be of use to them in the future, because locust production is a modern, up-and-coming industry.
Afterwards, a young inmate shows us his cell. Again through a security check. A common room, a long corridor, thick metal doors with heavy bolts. Nameplates on the doors. Here, the inmates are housed individually or in pairs. The cell that the young man shows us is tiny, it has two beds and a small toilet, that’s it. Since our companion is obviously one of the inmates who have some privileges due to good behaviour, we can assume that this is one of the better accommodations. The situation is very depressing. He also shows us a room with a computer – that’s special because they are actually forbidden in prison. But this is a pilot project that will enable our companion to complete training in IT. A kind of intranet with a digital library that users can access is being developed.
Back on the outside of the prison, the group visits the vegetable garden – or the place where it once was. There are two large greenhouses in which nothing grows except for a little cabbage – just like in the open area in front of them. The ground seems dead and hard like concrete. A sobering contrast to the beautiful vegetable garden in the women’s prison in Tires.
When a Turkish professor explains the valuable ingredients of purslane to two Italian vocational school teachers and a Portuguese man…
A prison visit like this is like diving into a parallel world, shielded from the outside world (including the digital one!). We learn that quite a few of the young inmates are imprisoned for homicide and other serious crimes – we only meet those who enjoy privileges because of good behaviour and very few of whom are allowed to leave the prison walls to complete a catering apprenticeship or work in gardening.
The experience of the energetic performance was impressive: Would social farming offer the potential and the outlet to channel willpower into meaningful channels in this (as one participant put it at the debriefing) “testosterone-charged place”? And to learn how to deal with nature in a way that is not based on exploitation and exploitation, but rather promotes its development and diversity? To treat the soil not just as a means of producing cabbage, but to develop it as a living organism that produces healthy diversity, as we saw earlier in Tires? And perhaps also to develop a form of “locust production” that is less reminiscent of the inmates’ imprisonment, but instead gives prisoners the image of dealing with living things with respect?
The project team: Samantha Benucci (IT), Chiara Borsini (IT), Susana Pinto (PT), Ann-Kathrin Brügge (DE), Ylenia Cariani (online from IT), Thomas van Elsen (DE), Alice Caselli (IT), Recep Balkiç (TR) und Hamide Gübbük (TR)
