Girls party in prison

Imagine a swinging ‘birthday’ party in a Jamaican prison, with girls galore from all across the globe, yet an official has been asked to account for the most unusual activity.

Think of a ‘guest list’ of over 300, mostly women, including prison staffers who made no secrecy of their involvement. And while the authorities have details on the incident, absolutely no move has so far been made to get to the bottom of the matter.

The exercise involved members of a well-known ‘posse’ from Spanish Town, who with a small motorcade, were able to move without much hindrance into the penal institution, where a whole van-load of drinks and food was consumed amidst high spirits, over a period of about two hours.

So exciting was the occasion that some inmates actually abandoned their regular meals at the time in favour of the ample supply of goodies brought in for the unusual merrymaking.

The strange thing is that no ‘don’ from within the prison played any part in the exercise. In fact, the real force behind the move was from outside the institution. Yes, influence of a very high order actually overcame the institution, allowing for the mid-afternoon partying behind high walls.

Strange too, was the fact that the ‘birthday’ that was being celebrated was that of a female of very tender age, so much so, that while being on hand throughout the party, she would have hardly known the significance of the exercise.

But that didn’t stop her next of kin and a host of friends from as far away as Europe, South America and the United States, from having a whale of a time at the expense of a top agency in the country, which readily acknowledged having paid for the entire event.

But no head is likely to roll for the unusual exercise, as permission was granted for it at the highest level, with apparently no question of corruption being involved. Yes, though it appears hard to countenance such an exercise under any circumstances in a major local prison, one entity managed to legitimately acquire the privilege to do so on that occasion.

That was because the party was thrown in celebration of the birth of a baby to a desolate mother at the Fort Augusta Adult Correctional Centre in St Catherine. The event, which was organised, funded and carried out with full authority from, and participation of some senior officers of the Department of Correctional Services, was actually to cheer up the 300-inmate prison population while bringing badly needed supplies to the mother whose desperate pregnant circumstances came to the attention of Food For The Poor a few weeks earlier.

So, armed with a large suitcase of baby clothing and supplies, a bus load of staff members and a pick-up van with light refreshments, members of staff marched into the Portmore-based, all-female prison as pre-arranged, for the ‘birthday bashment’.

No, there was no heavy-duty sound system, in fact, no music at all. But the air was full of sweet songs of joy and meaningful cheers for the inmates, who made merry of the occasion. Amidst it all, little Taraijha (an African name meaning hope and love) was blessed and given an early peek at the many things brought for her, including toys and books for tiny tots.

Weeks earlier, the difficulties of the woman, who was in an advanced state of pregnancy, were brought to the attention of Food For The Poor. An initiative was immediately launched to bring some relief to the 33-year-old Jamaican who migrated to Britian from a tender age, despite her admission of guilt on a drug trafficking rap for which she has three more months to serve in prison. The then mother of two had entered the institution a three-week pregnant.

“I had real difficulties with the delivery of the baby, which was born weighing 10 pounds two ounces, but I kept faith largely because of the encouragement and emotional support which I got during the difficult times,” said the mother during the festivities in prison.

“I am here for the past 14 years and it is the first I have ever seen something like this; you know, people coming and seeing an inmate in distress and deciding not only to help out that person, but to come in and do something like this much involves the whole prison population,” said a fellow inmate, who is godmother to the child.

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