It is now a year since we announced the start of the ‘Projet d’humanisation de la Maison d’Arret et de Correction de Ouagadougou (MACO)’, the largest prison in the capital of Burkina Faso. We decided to inaugurate the activity following a report from the Camillian fathers of the prison chaplaincy, who notified us of the urgent need to intervene to humane the treatment of inmates, confined in a precarious facility, where overcrowding is only the most obvious problem.

It immediately seemed to us to be a project in which it was important to invest, considering prison – not only a place to serve one’s sentence – but also, and above all, a place in which to begin a re-educational path that could lead to reintegration into society in a fruitful manner. It is therefore crucial that prisoners not only have the opportunity to embark on this path, but that they do so while fully enjoying their inviolable human rights.

Now, at the end of the project, we can say that it has been a success: in recent months – thanks to funding from Salute e Sviluppo – it has been possible to provide prisoners with very important community and social experiences, a Christmas lunch and an Easter lunch were organised, more than 2,300 bags containing food and hygiene kits were packed, which were then distributed to prisoners who are more than others living in poverty, and finally, drugs and medicines were purchased for the San Camillo Hospital, useful for the treatment of those suffering from particular diseases.

Improving the living conditions of those in difficulty is a primary goal of ours in any sphere, and we are very happy that this project has achieved its goals and has given so many inmates of the MACO the opportunity to positively face their path within the prison structure.