“When I was seventeen I had my first kid. The mother was...

“When I was seventeen I had my first kid. The mother was addicted to drugs. I was in a tough situation. I was raising the child on my own. And I received an invitation to help rob a truck. I thought: ‘I’ll just do this today, and then it will be over.’ I was the lookout. The police caught us while we were running away. Prison is a place that’s impossible to explain. I was there for 2.5 years before I even had a trial. I saw a guy being stabbed. I saw a guy slit his own throat with a razor. During the night I used to sit by the window, and look at the stars, and think: ‘Not even an animal likes to stay in a cage.’ All my friends forgot about me. Only my mother visited. I’ll never go back there. Right now I’m in a tough situation again. I have no job. But people at the church help me with food. And I sit here and help people park their cars. It’s only a few pennies, but I’d rather do this than steal from someone else who needs the money.”

(São Paulo, Brazil)