Two Positive Encounters
This past week Elson, Hanitra and I met with the Administrative Directors of Antalaha and Antsirabe prisons, one via whatsapp and the other in person.
Tony Rambeloson, the Administrative Director of Antalaha Prison, had just finished a zoom call with the Minister of Justice of Madagascar and was kind enough to give us an appointment afterwards.
His eyes were twinkling. We had parted on very good terms last year.
“Nice to see you Tamara.” he said in English. “Welcome back to Madagascar. We are looking forward to working with you again in Antalaha.”
“Nice to see you too Mr. Tony Sir. There have been a few changes. I am now permanently working with Elson Hanitra Madagascar Mission (EMM). Their son Maoly who works as a hospital finance director will also be joining us.”
He and many other higher-ups in the Malagasy prison system are well acquainted with EMM. They are an NGO which has independently and quietly been doing prison work all over Madagascar for years.
“A warm welcome, Hanitra and Elson,” he said in Malagasy. “I want to tell you all some good news. There have been no prisoner deaths due to malnutrition for two whole months. We are identifying those at risk and giving them extra food in the mornings. The funds are limited, so if you can help find us continuing funding, it would be appreciated.”
We asked him to clarify his priorities are and our conversation moved into plans for replacing the tin roofs for chambres 1 and 2 which are leaking so badly that prisoners are suffering from respiratory diseases during the rainy season. We spoke of the importance of making sure our plans included improved ventilation. The second priority is to develop the large parcel of excellent prison farm land to enhance food security. The third priority is to improve the sanitation and sewage systems in the men’s section where a handful of poorly functioning toilets service nearly 2000 men, and the fourth is to install a solar energy system to run the submersible pump during the extended black-outs from the grid. Without the ability to pump from cisterns to the overhead tanks, the prisoners are suffering from an acute lack of water.
We agreed to continue the conversation in person, procure estimates, and firm up our plan for this year and into the following year.
A couple days later Dr. Elson called me.
“The Administrative Director the Antsirabe Prison wants to meet you.”
I only had an hour before leaving town, so Dr. Elson picked me up and brought along a skilled and experienced contractor to assess the situation. Again, the experience was daunting.
The Antsirabe prison was built in the colonial French era for 400 prisoners and now holds 1400. Its courtyard was packed with men, The chambers were dark and dirty, with 4 toilets per 500 men to use at night. They stank so badly that my mind tried to cope by imagining ways to trap the airborne urine ammonia and turn it into a window cleaning product to market to Fair Trade organizations. I was thankful that they required a covid mask as it helped mask the pungent reek.
We walked into the back of the prison to look at the overflowing septic tanks. The sewage system in general was not built for the number of users and needs a total revamping.
There wasn’t enough drinking water. No working pump, even where there isn’t a power cut. Drinking water for all of the inmates were stored in only 3 plastic holding containers.
The dispensary was tiny, with one ratty mattress, a falling apart medicine cabinet and the roof looking like it was going to cave in at any moment.
We left, promising nothing but hoping to be able to help somehow. We have the contractors, we have fostered good working relationships, we have the permissions, we have the vision, we have the goodwill of the prison officials, we have the team, we have organizational backing. All we lack is sufficient funding.
