"It must surely be a tribute to the resilience of the human spirit that even a small number of those men and women in the hell of the prison system survive it and hold onto their humanity."
-Howard Zinn
We visited another familiar place today, the Women's Prison. This is our third year visiting the women there. When we arrived I was given a job right away. A knife and part of a cabbage were passed over to me and then I had to start chopping it up. I think it was a test to see if I would do it and how I would interact with the women. After about two minutes one woman came over and sat next to me, she said, "do you want me to assist you," and I replied with a resounding "yes." I didn't have the right technique and I think she wanted to talk to me and get to know me. I had big sunglasses on and she told me she liked my shades and that back home she used to wear sunglasses all of the time. She has a daughter back home and she's been in the prison for seven months. We have no idea why the women are in the prison, nor do we ask. We're there to teach yoga and bring a little light into the space.
After prepping their meal the class began.
The women filled up the space with laughter and supported each other in the beautiful practice.
There was dancing and singing. Joy and love.
"In some countries, it is a widespread means of torture to constantly subject prisoners to artificial light..."-Natascha Kampusch
Africa Yoga Project brought real light, light from the heart, light that can only be created from a space of deep compassion and care.
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