Thank you letter to H360: “Every attitude here inside is very intense and important”

This is a letter sent to the Humanitas360 Institute by Flavia Maria, one of the leaders of the Lili Cooperative and who is still imprisoned in the II Women’s Penitentiary in Tremembé, São Paulo. Since April, at the beginning of the pandemic, the Humanitas360 Institute has donated 30 hygiene kits to benefit Lili’s members who are still in prison. Some of them who have better conditions inside the prison have donated their kits to other women inside their pavilion. The kit has helped and touched prison police officers and directors, as well as, of course, women prisoners.

“Tremembé II Women’s Penitentiary – 07/13/2020

Patrícia and the entire staff of the Humanitas360 Institute,

It is with great longing and gratitude that I take this pen to write this letter. Through this letter I want to share with you how we are today after incredible people like you passed through our lives. I want to start by, on behalf of all the women currently in the reeducation program at the Tremembé II Women’s Penitentiary, for your donations of hygiene kits. We are going through difficult times in our lives with this Covid-19 disease. The world is struggling. But today I want to share with you through this brief letter — because unfortunately I am still inside this place — the impact that your solidarity and good deeds cause here, in this place and in people’s lives.

The Humanitas360 Institute came here to the Tremembé II Women’s Penitentiary and planted the seeds of LOVE for others, gratitude, good faith and hope. Out of these seeds fruits were born, and we can already see and feel the results. We see it with our eyes and feel it in the reactions of the people around us, whether they are civil servants or inmates. I could never imagine that our discipline director and production director would ever worry about buying shampoo so that we “prisoners”, “inmates” would have a little more motivation to look ourselves in the mirror and see clean, shiny hair. Today I lived this testimony, one of them with this human attitude, and it made me very happy. I was quite sure that, with everything we went through together, we got results. We transform people. We make hardened hearts softer.

Whenever donations are made, we make sure to give a talk in the courtyard to all inmates. So that everyone knows where the donation comes from. When we say it comes from the Humanitas360 Institute, the pavilion vibrates with applause. Me and Higor [legal manager of the Humanitas360 Institute] get very proud. We have been distant for almost a year now, but I don’t hide it from anyone, I’m a Humanitas360 activist. I have put our flag here in this place and nobody can take it away. Each day I love our cause more and more, we need to reduce recidivism in this place. This place that only brings us suffering and pain, where many are forgotten by everyone and everything. Some have already lost their own identities. And suddenly you, with a noble attitude, managed to get a smile from a sad and suffering face, and also a voice: “Wow, someone remembers me!” Bear in mind, every attitude here inside is very intense and important.

Thank you so much!

On behalf of Flávia (President of the Lili Cooperative) and all of the girls!! Tereza Vale a Pena (Tereza is worth it)!!!”

Understand the story of our cooperative in São Paulo, which was closed in 2019 by a decision of the state government.