[captionpix imgsrc=”https://thecostaricanews.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/AngelNEws.jpg” align=”left” captiontext=””]CURITIBA, Brazil – Vera wanted to sing, but she lost her breath every time she tried to raise her voice.
As one of the 24 inmates in the Águia News Choir, at the Women’s Work Release Center (CRAF) in Curitiba, Paraná, it took a month of music for her to give up a 17-year addiction to cigarettes.
“When I would hit certain notes, my lungs just wouldn’t let me hold them,” recalls Vera, 40, who, like the other inmates interviewed, preferred not to use her real name. “Sometimes, I would get a craving and drink some water. I also prayed and asked for God’s help in dealing with an addiction that lasted almost half of my life. It’s already been four months since my last smoke.”
The choir was introduced to offer the CRAF inmates an alternative to using drugs. Of the 160 women serving time at the penitentiary, 90% were convicted of drug-related crimes.
“I set up the choir as a way to get them away from their dependence on tobacco, alcohol and, obviously, illegal drugs,” says Roque Rogério Veríssimo, the creator and coordinator of the project, who is also a social worker at the School of Human Rights of the Paraná Ministry of Justice, Citizenship and Human Rights (SEJU). “We showed them videos that explain what each drug does to the throat, given that they now need to take care of their voices.”
Since the choir was created in June, eight of the group’s 13 smokers have kicked the habit.
Rehearsals are held on Saturdays in the Templo das Águias Evangelical Church. The inmates leave the penitentiary, and for two hours they join the church’s choir members and musicians.
During these weekly practices, the inmates learn about vocal hygiene, do warm-ups and rehearse songs featuring an array of vocal ranges.
Before rehearsing, the church’s members and convicts exchange more than musical knowledge.
“We talk about the choices we made in life,” says the choir’s conductor, Bluma Carla Antunes Gomes. “The aim is for the inmates to feel motivated and understand that there’s always an option that’s better than crime.”
Being part of the choir is an award given to inmates who dedicate themselves to their studies, says CRAF director Suely Vieira Santos. Classes at the primary-school level and some vocational courses are offered at the penitentiary.
“There are also women who have legal authorizations to study outside the CRAF,” says Santos, who believes education and the choir are allies in the fight against criminal recidivism.
Four showers for 160 women
The CRAF is equipped to serve 98 women, but it currently houses 160.
“This is a jail and there’s no such thing as a nice jail,” Santos says. “What we want is for them to leave this world and never have to come back. These women have sad stories, of abandonment and abuse. Some were sold by their families in exchange for drugs. So, when you’re able to provide a little bit of happiness, it’s extremely motivating for them.”
The Águias News Choir performed for the first time on Aug. 13, which is Prisoners’ Day in Brazil, at the CRAF.
“In addition to the inmates, there were also the coordinators and people from the Paraná Department of Corrections. I think we exceeded everybody’s expectations,” says Maria, 22, an inmate and choir member.
Maria, who is tall and blond with a model’s physique, leaves her penitentiary uniform behind every Saturday and arrives for practice wearing makeup and immaculately dressed.
Maria’s dedication does not go unnoticed by Santos, who adds the recuperation of the prisoners’ self-esteem is one of the project’s main benefits.
“Looking at the whole group (the inmate choir and the church choir), you can’t tell who’s an inmate and who isn’t,” Santos says. “It’s therapy. There’s a reason why none of them wants to leave the choir.”
Maria, who used to work in the drug trade, found her reason to begin again in music. For the first time in 22 years, she is able to see a different future for herself.
“I feel like, when I’m in the choir, they believe in us. And that’s a new feeling for me,” she says. “If I really make the effort, I can change my life.”
The choir’s next performance will be Dec. 18, at the Templo das Águias Evangelical Church. The inmates are practicing Christmas carols to perform alongside the church choir.
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Psychologist Sérgio de Castro, the founder and pastor of Templo das Águias, says the church’s partnership with the CRAF is a way to prepare inmates for their return to society, and, at the same time, prepare society for their return.
“Here they develop a talent and make friends,” Castro says. “It benefits them and the people who share this with them. Last Saturday, I was touched as I watched the rehearsal. It was beautiful.”
A majority of CRAF’s partnerships are with evangelical churches. Other ongoing projects include computer classes, as well as theater and dance performances.
More music for prisons
The Águias News Choir is not the only one bringing music to the penitentiaries of Brazil.
The Paraná Women’s Penitentiary, in the city of Piraquara, and the Cariacica Women’s Penitentiary, in Espírito Santo state, also have musical projects.
In June, Judge Erivaldo Ribeiro dos Santos donated R$30,000 (US$16,841) worth of instruments to the two penitentiaries. The funds came from the Innovare Prize that Ribeiro dos Santos won for the Começar de Novo (Fresh Start) Program, which is focused on social reinsertion for inmates.
“I never felt like that money was mine,” he says. “Nothing could be fairer than applying that money towards social reinsertion, which is the aim of Começar de Novo and initiatives such as these music programs.”
Rosimeiry Mostachio, coordinator of the Musical Arts project at the Paraná Women’s Prison says at first, 50 inmates will be chosen to participate in a weekly two-hour music class.
These inmates will participate in a choir and some of them will learn to play guitar. The teachers will come from partner universities, and the first class is expected to start in December.
The program’s goal, aside from its therapeutic value, is for inmates to receive certification from the Order of Musicians.
“The inmates have had their freedom taken away, but not their right to leisure and culture,” Mostachio says.
DVD with performances in Espírito Santo
The Maria Marias Choir at the Cariacica Women’s Prison is composed of 30 women. They have already given performances inside the penitentiary and at the local courthouse.
Quézia da Cunha Oliveira, director of social insertion at the Espírito Santo Ministry of Justice says, “The change in the inmates is visible, both in terms of health and physiognomy. They win you over when they sing.”
The choir, which was launched at the beginning of the year, is led by a prison guard. With the donation from Judge Erivaldo Ribeiro dos Santos, the Espírito Santo Ministry of Justice plans to record a DVD with the Maria Marias choir and other performances by groups of male and female inmates from correctional facilities throughout the state.
Débora Mühlbeier Lorusso – Infosurhoy.com
