Breaking In

Getting out of prison is the overriding goal of most prisoners, but Jan De Cock‘s goal was to get into prison. With no criminal record, Jan left the rolling hills and majestic castles of Belgium to be voluntarily locked up in some of the world‘s poorest prisons. Over the course of one year, he stayed with inmates in 66 different prisons, from Africa to Asia. He endured extreme overcrowding, violence, lack of food and water, stringent discipline and other substandard conditions, however, he contends his experience was mostly positive.

Jan was first introduced to prison life in 1987, while working with street children in Chile, many of whom were sent to prison on drug charges. Later, Jan began volunteering on several PFI Global Assistance Medical Projects. Far from the aggression and violence he expected to encounter, Jan says he discovered “patience, confidence and joy” among the inmates he met. When friends encouraged him to write a book about prisoners and their circumstances, Jan said, “I must first know what it means to sleep on concrete beds and eat prison cuisine.” And so his world tour of prisons began. Not surprisingly, Jan encountered many difficult moments during his year-long sojourn as he was exposed to the harsh conditions that prisoners around the world are routinely subjected to.  His experience in a Japanese prison especially stands out in his memory as being one of the most difficult to endure.

Though it was by far one of  the cleanest prisons he had seen, the atmosphere was extremely oppressive. “Prisoners were only allowed to speak during one hour at dinner,” he says “and they would be sent to isolation if they spoke at other times or even looked the guards in the eyes.”

Despite these nearly intolerable conditions, he met men whom he says enriched his life. “I used to think that I had to encourage them,” he explains, “but my life becomes richer when I see their goodness.” He was moved by their faith and their courage to persevere in the midst of such desperate circumstances.  He saw such faith among his cellmates in a Haiti prison, who had spent every hour of every day confined to a 10 square meter cell for the past eight years. He was inspired by his cellmate in Thailand, who revealed that he had been living for five years now with his ankles bound in chains while he waited on death row for his execution. Jan recounts his experiences in his recently released book, Hotel Prison, which is available in Dutch and German but will eventually be translated into French and English.

“I learned that crime doesn‘t have the last word,” he says. “God still uses those who are rejected and have done wrong to build a better world.”  Jan is helping to build that better world by working to improve the conditions of the prisons he‘s seen. By soliciting financial support and through revenues from his new book and speaking engagements, he has succeeded in securing mattresses for prisoners in Haiti, fans for prisoners in Mexico, and medicines for sick prisoners in Madagascar. He was also instrumental in establishing a pineapple plantation at a Benin prison and a day care centre at a prison in Bolivia.

Jan continues to spend time in prisons when he can, recently staying in a Congolese prison for one month. “It‘s still the place where I learn so much about life and friendship, about faith and hope,” he says.