Prison visiting

No pictures this time: you're not allowed to take photos of Dodoma prison or surroundings. I suppose they think you might use them to help a prisoner escape. Really I'd be surprised they wanted to escape. The prison is one of the pleasanter spots in Dodoma. It nestles under a rocky hill and once past the outer security fence you are in a pretty village of neat houses (staff accommodation?) and vegetable plots. The prison building itself is a walled fortress with an imposing gateway, but inside there is cobbled courtyard with shady trees and flower beds with the names of the various rooms, eg "Officer's room", picked out in flowers. The prisoners themselves, in their orange suits, bustle about cheerfully, carrying buckets in and out of the gate, sweeping, watering etc. I've only been inside once, not as a prisoner I hasten to add, but to help recruit some cheap labour to put up a fence around a local primary school. (This is quite a regular thing here; you often see a group of them standing in the back of a pick-up truck with a couple of armed guards, all looking very happy to be having a day out somewhere.) Signing in at the gate was a bit of a palaver, with a lot of saluting and clicking of heels, then we were shown into the governor's office where we negotiated our requirements, and checked the work party wouldn't include any dangerous criminals. The prison governor seemed a very nice man, but it was a bit disconcerting talking to him because two of the photos tacked up on the noticeboard behind him were of prisoners who had hanged themselves (we assumed) in their cells. So we kept our eyes everywhere but there and admired the various bits of craftwork on display. "Do the prisoners make these?"we asked. "Yes. Would you like to buy something?" "Yes. We would." We were shown baskets, tablemats and doormats. The latter apparently are sent to the Comoros Islands where they are sold as local handicrafts. So if you go on holiday to the Comoros (does anyone?) and you buy a souvenir doormat it was probably made in Dodoma Gaol.