Prison through the eyes of a child

May Titthara

The Phnom Penh Post 

From behind the bars of their cells in the Kingdom’s biggest prison, mothers can watch their children play in a tiny playground inside the shabby building, which is surrounded by narrow gardens where the women can grow extra food.

“Every day, I see only the prison roof and the trees inside the fence,” says Dong, a five-year-old boy who was born inside Prey Sar Correctional Centre 2.

“I have never known anything outside this prison,” Dong said during an interview last week.

The interview followed a request to the Interior Ministry and, subsequently, to the prison chief.

They agreed, on the condition that no photographs be taken and no tape recording be made.

Dong said he lived with his mother in the prison because they had no relatives.

He and the 10 other children in the prison leave the cells every Monday to Friday morning for classes an NGO has arranged for them inside the prison.
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