The Guardian article – Growing up behind bars: 1,500 children being raised by parents in Bolivian jails
Earlier this week there was an article published in The Guardian about the 1,500 children in Bolivia that are living with their parents inside Bolivian jails, which you can READ HERE.
It’s an interesting article that looks at what life is like for inmates and their families in the Bolivian prison system.
The article struck home for Mano a Mano, as one of the first clinics we ever built in 2001 was built inside the federal prison in Cochabamba. Below is the brief article about the El Abra clinic from our December 2001 Newsletter:
December 2001 Newsletter – El Abra Clinic
While other Mano a Mano clinics serve poor rural communities, Mano a Mano partnered with Bolivia’s criminal justice system to build and open a clinic in El Abra, Cochabamba’s federal prison. With no health care available in the prison, the 400 inmates sentenced there rarely received any type of medical treatment. Prisoners volunteered to build the clinic with direction from the master carpenter. Walls surround the prison – the clinic is a free-standing building inside those walls. The Bolivian government pays salaries for clinic staff and intends to use this clinic as a model for health care facilities in its other federal prisons.
