Prison life in Brazil: Escaping incarceration's pressures with massage - Washington Post

[massage]

An inmate walks through a prison courtyard at a complex of 10 prisons in Porto Velho, Brazil. (Nacho Doce/Reuters)

Prisoners do yoga stretches and breathing exercises. (Nacho Doce/Reuters)

In Porto Velho, the capital of Brazil’s state of Rondônia, sits a complex of 10 prisons. Inside the overcrowded jails are thieves, murderers and rapists. Prison life is stressful, if not deadly.

The Association for the Cultural Development of Prisoners (ACUDA), a local charity, tries to relieve some of that stress by teaching prisoners vocational skills, such as car mechanics and gardening. But it also trains the prisoners in Ayurvedic massage, a spiritual and physical healing practice based on ancient Hindu medicine.

Reuters went to the prisons to see how this training works.

Over the years, ACUDA has trained more than 2,000 inmates. About 110 are currently taking part in the training. The therapies have one goal, educating inmates about the possibilities of life beyond crime, Luiz Carlos Marques, the charity’s founder, told Reuters. “Nobody can force someone to stop breaking the law,” he said. “It’s something each person has to decide on their own.”

The system has strict rules of conduct that must be met before inmates can take part. Brazil’s prison system is known for its violence and overcrowding. In May, a riot took place between two rival gangs in a prison in the northeastern state of Bahia. Eight prisoners were killed, and some 50 visitors and prison staff were held hostage. The prison population was 1,467, crammed into a facility designed to hold 644.

In Rondônia, a poor state on the western fringe of Brazil’s Amazon rain forest, the prisons are no less crowded, so the program offers prisoners a chance to escape mentally, if not physically.

“It gives inmates something to look forward to and something they can use when they leave,” Adriano Furtunato, the regional manager of the penal system, told Reuters.

There is one more incentive for the prisoners: Family members join the detainees on the last Friday of each month. Everyone shares a meal and prisoners. The ones with Ayurveda training use their new skills to massage family members. The tensions of the family — and prisoners — are relieved, even if just for that momemnt.

Prisoner Hugo Garcia smiles as his son takes a bath in a wash basin, helped by the child’s grandmother. (Nacho Doce/Reuters)

Prisoners Helio Steves, left, and Epifacio Soares are covered in clay by fellow inmates during a therapy session. (Nacho Doce/Reuters)

Prisoners stand by plates of clay before a therapy session. (Nacho Doce/Reuters)

Prisoners march during a therapy session. (Nacho Doce/Reuters)

Prisoners wash themselves after taking part in a clay therapy session. (Nacho Doce/Reuters)

Prisoner Cleverson Barbosa caresses his wife’s face during a visit with his family. (Nacho Doce/Reuters)

Prisoner Cleverson Barbosa, 27, kisses his children’s feet (Nacho Doce/Reuters)

Prisoner Anderson Miranda plays with his son during a family visit. (Nacho Doce/Reuters)

Prisoner Rafael Oliveira, 22, embraces his wife and baby during a half-day visit. (Nacho Doce/Reuters)

Inmates conduct Ayurvedic massage on their relatives. (Nacho Doce/Reuters)

Prisoner Enoque Lucio, 36, jokes with his children. (Nacho Doce/Reuters)

Prisoners Sergio Luiz Brito Aponte, left, and Alexandre Valente embrace while taking part in a therapy session. (Nacho Doce/Reuters)

Lights shine over a complex of 10 prisons along “Penal Road” in Porto Velho, the capital of the Brazilian state of Rondonia. (Nacho Doce/Reuters)

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