With support from the Martín-Baro Fund, CRISPAZ is working with a prisoner support group known as OPERA, for the Spanish initials that stand for Optimism, Peace, Hope, Renewal and Harmony. The group works with young inmates, mostly gang members, in two prisons in El Salvador. High crime rates and the growth of gangs in El Salvador can be traced in part to the unhealed wounds of El Salvador’s civil war, and to current economic policies, prompted by the U.S., that exacerbate economic inequality.

While the inmates involved in OPERA have contributed to the social violence that plagues El Salvador, they have also been victimized by it. Many have been the victims of violence at home and on the streets. OPERA seeks to address the mental health of young inmates by providing a variety of activities for them in prison including reading circles, craft and music workshops, film forums, and a self-help group that focuses on relationship difficulties, emotional experiences, communication problems, violence, and conflict resolution. OPERA also works to engage inmates directly in denouncing human rights abuses that are occurring in the prisons.