This past Monday, I was privileged to visit a women's prison in Kaohsiung. Four of us went to the Kaohsiung women's prison: two foreigners and two Taiwanese ladies. After a strict security check where we had to hand in all metal objects, phones, coins etc. we were led to a pleasant looking classroom with small wooden desks. About 14 women lined up outside and quietly filed into the classroom. On the cue of the class leader, they all stood up, bowed and chanted in Chinese, "Good morning, teacher." I was astounded at their discipline and the formal way in which they treated us. For the first 15 minutes we played a game of bingo where we all had to walk around and ask each other questions like, "Can you play the piano?" or "Do you have two children" or "Have you been to Hualien?" and so on. After that we listened to Paula share an encouraging story from her life and a copy of Psalm 107 was handed out . We then listened to a beautiful Chinese song and spent the rest of the time making Christmas cards. We moved all the desks together and sat around in a big circle. They made truly beautiful cards. I don't know why I was so surprised. I expected them to be expressionless or resentful of us. But not only were they very respectful but also friendly and eager to help or talk about things. It was rather strange sitting around a table and being very aware that five needles with thread were in circulation.

Paula, Grace and Leanne ran the show and I was a prop. I felt a bit under the weather that morning because of a headache, so I had a hard time being outgoing. Not to be discouraged by the quiet chicky across from her, Cho Yu-wen, a compactly built woman in her thirties, with short yet stylish hair, introduced herself and asked me off the bat to please remember her name. She wore black eyeliner and her full lips were friendly. She had thick scars on her arms from previous cuts but she was almost childlike in her blue uniform, squinting up close at her Christmas card. We shared the glue and a pair of scissors as most of our contact because my head was pounding way too much to muster up the little Chinese that I have.

The women interacted very respectfully with one another, always thanking each other and offering to share materials or cut an extra piece of this or that for another woman. When it was time to go, they all stood up and greeted us with the same bow. Yu-wen asked me to say her name again on the way to her place in the line up and laughed out loud when I told her the right answer. Cho Yu-wen is firmly ingrained in my head now and we are hoping to go again in the new year. Thanks Paula for organizing it!