Offering a lifeline to ex-inmates, school leavers

Prisons are meant to transform inmates to become better citizens, yet often times most of them do not change when they come out of prisons. The development led to the formation of Prison Fellowship Malawi, a faith base organisation based in Balaka. I recently travelled to Balaka and talked to Prison Fellowship Malawi executive director Rodrick Zalimba on the organisation and its activities.

When was Prison Fellowship Malawi established and what is it all about?

Prison Fellowship Malawi is a faith based organisation (FBO) established in 2001 and registered in 2004 under the trustees Incorporation Act and is a certified member of the Council of Non-Governmental Organisations in Malawi (Congoma).

Prison Fellowship Malawi is also affiliated to the world wide family of Prison Fellowship International whose headquarters are in Washington, DC. The organisation exists to serve people who are involved in or are affected by crime. These mostly include inmates, ex-inmates, victims of crime, and families of offenders, potential offenders and the community at large.

The organisation’s projects and programmes specifically target prisoners in general as rights holders, and prison authorities and the society at large, as duty bearers. The organisation’s beneficiaries are drafted from all the prisons across Malawi.

What have you been doing since 2001?

The organisation has, since its establishment in 2001, accumulated vast experience in the designing and implementation of prison programmes and activities. From the various projects that we have implemented, several lessons have been learnt and these have led to a concrete springboard for efficient and effective delivery of service in prison ministry.

There are still several gaps on the subject of criminal justice which require concerted action by concerned actors. There is more that could be done especially with regard to rehabilitation and community re-integration of offenders, access to justice, as well as improving the living conditions of prisoners in general.

The organisation mostly works hand in hand with Malawi Prison Service as a primary stakeholder in the delivery of its programmes. Besides Malawi Prison Service, Prison Fellowship Malawi also works closely with the Technical Entrepreneurial and Vocational Education Trust (Tevet), local government, churches, community organisations and other institutions working in the field of crime and justice.

What are some of your activities?

We are engaged in evangelism aimed at helping to preach the word of God in prisons and above all, to encourage inmates to retrace their feet back to God. Usually, the organisation also makes donations of assorted items such as food, clothing and other sanitary essentials. We also source and mobilise support for construction of structures inside prisons to improve the life of inmates. To this end, the ministry has since built a Spirulina pond and a water storage tank at Mangochi Prison; a library at Ntcheu Prison and an office block, kitchen and renovation of a nursery school building at Zomba Central Prison.

How do you sustain your activities?

The organisation is also involved in farm activities and livestock production for sustainability of its activities. The project beneficiaries are invited to participate in the activities as a way of imparting agricultural skills in them. These activities include farming, pig farming and bee keeping. We also do this to improve the standard of living of vulnerable out-of-school youths, increase their incomes and prevent youths from committing crimes.

This also helps in promoting public awareness on offending and imprisonment in order to mitigate against crime prevalence, stigma and discrimination; promote networking and best practices sharing among the youth; provide inmates with an opportunity for primary and secondary education and keep inmates busy thereby mitigating against idleness. Recently, we have seen 39 inmates graduate in tailoring and carpentry and they all went away with starter pack tools to start small scale businesses.

What is your vision?

Prison Fellowship Malawi’s mission is to be a community of reconciliation and restoration for all those involved in and affected by crime thereby proclaiming and demonstrating the redemptive power and transforming love of Jesus Christ for all people. Our vision is to exhort and serve the body of Christ in prisons and in the community through ministry and service to prisoners, ex-prisoners, victims of crime and their families and to promote a restorative justice system founded on biblical standards.