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Prisoners perform during a Christmas decorating contest inside their cell at the Nelson Hungria prison in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015. Each cell of 50 women or more also put on a skit dramatizing Biblical stories, with many depictions of Jesus' life, as well as David and Goliath and Daniel in the lions den, giving prisons would-be thespians their chance to shine. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)![APTOPIX_Brazil_Prison_Llen__1_]()
Prisoners perform during a Christmas decorating contest inside their cell at the Nelson Hungria prison in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015. All of the 531 inmates at the Nelson Hungria prison has her own concrete bunk bed, and the spacious cinderblock cells were free of the overpowering stench, thick clouds of mosquitoes and troops of roaches that are a usually a staple of lockups here. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)![Brazil_Prison_Christm_Llen__2_]()
A prisoner performs during a Christmas decorating contest inside the Nelson Hungria prison in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015. Wreathes fashioned out of the aluminum plates that prison-issue meals are served in bedecked the walls, and the floors of the cell blocks were sprinkled with a light snowfall of ground up Styrofoam. Tropical heat-resistant snowmen were fashioned out of white plastic cups. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)![APTOPIX_Brazil_Prison_Llen]()
A prisoner looks through the bars of her cell during a Christmas decorating contest at the Nelson Hungria prison in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015. Each cell of 50 women or more also put on a skit dramatizing Biblical stories, with many depictions of Jesus' life, as well as David and Goliath and Daniel in the lions den, giving prisons would-be thespians their chance to shine. Voices soared in rapture with the religious songs, and many, many tears were shed. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)![Brazil_Prison_Christm_Llen]()
Prisoners perform during a Christmas decorating contest inside their pavillion at the Nelson Hungria prison in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015. Inmates, overwhelming black and mixed-race women who are serving time for offenses from burglary to homicide, spent weeks decking out the cell blocks with holiday decorations they made themselves from the objects they have access to behind bars. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)![Brazil_Prison_Christm_Llen__6_]()
The word "Sorry" is written in Portuguese on a bunk bed at the Nelson Hungria prison in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015. Brazil is notorious for its woeful prisons, which have long been blasted by human rights groups for rampant overcrowding and inhumane conditions. Prison riots break out regularly. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)![Brazil_Prison_Christm_Llen__4_]()
Prisoners perform during a Christmas decorating contest inside the Nelson Hungria prison in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015. Prison director Ana Gabriela Rosa Maia says the event, now in its sixth year, helped turn the penitentiary around. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)![Brazil_Prison_Christm_Llen__3_]()
Carina Barbosa performs as Santa Claus inside the Nelson Hungria prison in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015. Barbosa, a 29-year-old whos serving time for drug trafficking, was one of more than 500 inmates ringing in the holidays Thursday at Rio de Janeiro's Nelson Hungria prison with Passion plays and a cell decorating contest. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)![Brazil_Prison_Christm_Llen__1_]()
A prisoner dressed as Santa Claus sits on a bed during a Christmas decorating contest inside the Nelson Hungria prison in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015. Christmas trees were made from strips of green plastic from one-liter soda bottles; the presents below out of empty milk cartons swathed in tissue paper. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)![Brazil_Prison_Christm_Llen__8_]()
Prisoners inside sit in their cell during a Christmas decorating contest at the Nelson Hungria prison in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015. Inmates, overwhelming black and mixed-race women who are serving time for offenses from burglary to homicide, spent weeks decking out the cell blocks with holiday decorations they made themselves from the objects they have access to behind bars. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)![Brazil_Prison_Christm_Llen__7_]()
Prisoner smiles after performing during a Christmas decorating contest inside their cell at the Nelson Hungria prison in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Dec. 10, 2015. Cleanliness was one of the criteria that the jury, made up of directors from area prisons, evaluated each of the nine cells on. Inmates from the winning cells scored prizes from coveted name-brand hair products to plastic stationary fans to a 21-inch flat-screen TV. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)Inmate contest brings holiday cheer in Brazil
The inmates, who are serving time for offenses from burglary to homicide, spent weeks decking out the cell blocks with holiday decorations they made from objects they have access to behind bars.
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- Inmate contest brings holiday cheer in Brazil
