#we sew

The first industrial production of certified masks starts in the Bollate prison.
Not an artisanal job as is happening in various penitential institutions throughout the country, but the antechamber of what could become a real industrial center.

The representative of the United Nations office for the fight against drugs and crime in Mexico, Claudio La Camera, was also present at the presentation of the start of the project, which took place at the end of May, interested in experimenting with this initiative also in Mexico City.
«We hope that Bollate will become a real industrial center, now for masks and, certainly tomorrow, for more. Here we will have original and certified masks.

This is an example to be replicated as much as possible », remarked the head of the Dap, Bernardo Petralia.
The first two machines arrived from China, where they were subjected for weeks to rigorous tests and severe stresstests carried out by specialized Italian personnel sent to fine-tune the exact calibration on non-woven fabric samples sent from Italy.

The production cycle has been installed and has therefore started which, when fully operational, will allow the production of 100 thousand masks per day for each machine.
For years, the Milanese institute of Bollate has stood out for its ability to plan and commit to the employment of prisoners. A sensitivity that does not find a home in many other Italian prisons. The XVI report by Antigone on the conditions of detention testifies to this.

The data refer to 2019, but not much has changed in this first half of 2020.
The identikit of the "typical inmate" portrays a man with low education, who works little and is not sufficiently trained.
Some numbers: as of 31 December 2019 there were 18,070 inmates involved in a work activity, even for just a few hours a week, that is 29.74% of the total number of people in prison. The percentage has very rarely exceeded 30% in the last ten years.

The vast majority were employed by the Penitentiary Administration itself (86.82%), essentially in institutional services (82.3% of this share) related to cleaning, meal delivery and other small assignments. 4.5% of the people employed by the Administration were engaged in internal work (first of all tailoring, carpentry and assembly of various components), 1.1% in agricultural colonies, 7% in maintenance tasks of the building and 5.1% in external services pursuant to art. 21 of the Penitentiary Law.

Chiara Genisio
NP June / July 2020