Interno, the first restaurant inside a womens prison facility
INTERNO is a restaurant inside the San Diego prison in Cartagena, Colombia. It is attended by women deprived of their liberty, created and directed by Johana Bahamón who since 2012 has been working with her team of the FUNDACIÓN ACCION INTERNA to improve the quality of life of the prison and post-prison population. Interno is a model of social reinsertion and undoubtedly an example of reconciliation and resocialization, which will be a permanent scenario to demonstrate clearly and forcefully how mistakes can become opportunities.
With a menu created by the best chefs, INTERNO opened on December 15, 2016. The doors of the San Diego prison were opened so that the civilian and tourist population of Cartagena can enjoy the taste of freedom with a service of the highest quality and achieve a SECOND OPPORTUNITY for the inmates to reintegrate into the social and productive population.
INTERNO is a space for reconciliation between the prison population and the civilian population, generating opportunities and tools for a new vision of life for people deprived of their liberty through this innovative social enterprise that bets on believing and creating second opportunities. Fundación Acción Interna also improves the conditions of the space where they serve their sentence. For this reason, the same day of the inauguration 180 cabins and new mattresses were given to every inmate inside the prison facility.
Thanks to the INTERNO production workshop, the inmates have training and productive spaces to prepare for their freedom, such as a productive garden, library, sewing machines, bakery, dining room, computer room, among others.
INTERNO was selected by TIME magazine as one of the 100 world’s greatest places 2018.