Lauren & Gareth go to prison

Wednesday

Today was the day we were going to see the other side of The Eagle Project's work. The Youth Prison.

We had been granted special permission to join George & Cally on one of their weekly meetings with some of the boys in the Youth Prison. This does not always get approved so we were very grateful.

After a train ride into central Sao Paulo, we met George at his Uni and drove to the prison.

We were blown away by the whole experience.

We met with 4 of the 12 boys on the current 12 week course and spent our alloted 35 minutes getting to know them & asking about their hopes and dreams. One wanted to become a Lawyer, another a Vet. 

They were all into different music and loved it when I (Gareth) taught them some basic beatboxing skills!

They were aged between 16 & 19 and neither of us had met such polite and lovely young men. It seemed almost unbelievable that each one had committed a crime (or crimes) that had resulted in them being put in prison. Most of them had been inside multiple times before.

What struck us was their absolute love & respect for Cally & George. They knew that this couple were giving up their time, voluntarily, to help them AND their families. 

After our session, the new Director of the prison gave us a guided tour of the facility which was basic at best. The prison was over subscribed too which meant that most 2 man cells had 3 people in, one of which was sleeping on the floor. In comparison to the adult prison however, this was luxury.

As we crossed the courtyard, boy after boy called out George's name and ran over to greet him. One gave him a message to pass on to his Mum and SO, when we left the prison (around 5pm) we decided to go and see his Mum and pass on the message. There really seems to be no end to Cally & George's giving and commitment to help these boys leave prison and stay out of crime.

As we walked to her humble flat in the centre of Sao Paulo we stayed close to George as a crack cocaine deal was going down with 3 guys literally 5 metres from us. This is every day life for Cally & George as they support the families of these boys from the Youth Prison.

The boy's sister and their Mum were so pleased to see us and, as with Isabel, you could see how much it meant to them that 2 people (plus their word English friends who spoke no Portuguese) would come to a very poor area, just to visit them and see how they are and offer advice and support for the impending release of their Brother/son.

The day was concluded worth more conversations about The Eagle Project and how we can help raise much needed funds to not just continue the work but increase what they're doing in Sao Paulo (& beyond). Watch this space!

Thursday

Sight seeing day!

Cally had carved a whole day out of her crazy schedule to show us the sights of Sao Paulo.

Here's a few pictures:

Sao Paulo Cathedral

Confession box in the Cathedral (We didn't realise but there was someone in the right hand box on their knees!)

View from the top of Sao Paulo's tallest tower.

On the way home we dropped by the local hospital to get some treatment for my comedy finger injury which ended up being nothing serious at all but caused many laughs, especially when the Doctor tried to tell me (in sign language as he didn't speak English) how he wanted me to hold my hand for this xray:

I ended up with a splint to wear for around 7 days which immediately started getting laughs everywhere I went as I can't bend my middle finger at all....

Friday

Today was a chill day at the house as George was at Uni and Cally was running her closed sessions with the boys at the prison which was not appropriate for us to come to.

We caught up on various admin tasks and in the evening we went with Cally, George & family to watch their school basketball team compete in the inter school final.

It was our first ever basketball game and it was so exciting!!

The Paca girls won and were immediately congratulated by half of the crowd!!

Saturday

Our last day in Sao Paulo started with breakfast and a trip to a favela to meet the mother of another of The Eagle Project's boys. Sadly she was out but we meet his sister and again, kept the contact with the family which is imperative to the project's success.

Back home we were treated to one of George's legendary Brazilian barbeques. It was AWESOME! A real authentic taste of Brazil!. He decided to wear his England football shirt as they were due to play a crucial Euro qualifying match while we were going to be flying (bad timing)!

We ate beautiful rump steak and turkey hearts along with lovely salads and fresh coconut juice.

Then, we said our goodbyes and were off to the airport for the next step of our adventure; Iguazu Falls.

Lauren - I can honestly say that this had been one of the most impacting weeks of my life. I have never experienced such a love and commitment to what a lot of society would call the 'unlovable' by one of the most inspiring couples I have ever met. They have a generosity that permeates every part of their life and their work is radically transforming lives. Thank you so much Cally and George for inviting us into your home and treating us like family.