Reference :
V-P-PA-E-00156
Date :
09/11/2017
Caption :
Panama City, La Joya prison. Native trees from Panama are growing in Sembrando Paz vivarium. The vivarium started in November 2016, with the approval of the penitentiary system authorities and the police, who are now sponsors of the initiative. It also receives support from the ICRC in the form of the recycling project, EcoSólidos.
Confidentiality level :
public
Publication restrictions :
publication without restrictions
Description :
The dedicated detainees grow a lot of trees that are native to Panama, something which other gardens don’t grow because they are not profitable due to their high mortality and slow growth rates. In Sembrando Paz, these trees are given place of pride and receive special care.
ICRC website, 18.01.2018, Photo gallery: “The La Joyita prison, in Panama, offers a number of programmes to help the inmates occupy their time fruitfully. By educating themselves, the inmates also work towards reducing their sentences. One of the most popular and valued programmes is the Sembrando Paz (Sowing Peace) vivarium where more than 50 workers grow plants as part of a process that prepares them for reintegration into society.
The oasis in the prison was started by the prisoners themselves. They took an abandoned area, cleaned it up and started growing plants using their own resources.
Currently, the vivarium has over 16,000 seedlings with a market value of 20,000 US dollars and a productivity rate that could be the envy of any private garden. Part of the plant production profits is used to contribute to the Million Hectares Alliance, a programme that seeks to replant one million hectares in Panama over the next 20 years. Sembrando Paz is also one of the few vivariums in the country that has an excellent production of native trees.”
Original material :
digital
Resolution :
6720x4480
Orientation :
landscape
Colour/B&W :
colour
