Wheelchairs and Medical Supplies into Malawi Prisons
Malawi Prison Services, Zomba, Malawi… The program started at 10 am, with the turning over of medical supplies, equipment, and wheelchairs to the Prison Service in Zomba. The Chief Commissioner for Malawi’s Prison System was in attendance at the function. It was the fifth donation of medical supplies from Namikango Mission with support from the Malawi Project to the prison, and it was carried on nationwide television.
One day earlier two board members from the Malawi Project, and two other church members from Indiana, visited the Zomba Central Maximum Prison. During the visit they came face to face with the need, and the problems faced by the Prison officials in trying to care for the prison population. The Medical Director for the Project made note, “Our eyes have been opened to the great need for assistance to the Prison System through our visit to this location.” Her comments came after seeing the conditions inside the prison, and the uncultivated field where there was no farm equipment with which to till the crops.
In recent years the Malawi Project has concentrated in supplying medical supplies to government hospitals, but little if any of these supplies reached the prison system. Members of the American team were surprised to see so many children behind the fenced in prison. They are the children of the inmates, and their home address is Zomba Prison. Unlike the inmates who have committed crimes that put them in this place, these children have done nothing to merit being locked inside these walls. They need basic education. The prison service provides some service to the children whose mothers are inmates, but these are not nearly enough. They need toys, books, pencils, clothes, food and love if they are to become fruitful citizens of the country. It was a timely donation that included toys, as well as medical supplies and wheelchairs.
In his remarks during the handing over ceremony, the Prisons Chief Commissioner, Mr. MacDonald Chaona, could not hide his excitement, as he could for see inmates’ lives being touched. “We experience a lot of problems in the prison, and our vision is to ensure that conditions are improved. Our experience tells us that some of our prisoners must be carried on the backs of others in order to even reach the prison hospital. The government is not able to provide each of the prisons with enough wheelchairs. With the donation of wheelchairs it means our prisoners will no longer be carried on someone’s back to and from the hospital when they are sick. Those who are physically challenged will using wheelchairs.”
According to prisons officials, Malawi has a total of thirty-two prisons, and each one has a health center where inmates have access to some degree of health care. Zomba Central Prison is the oldest, and largest, with a population of 2,000 inmates. Like any one else these prisoners need good health service, food, mobility, and love. Recognizing this need the Malawi Project, through the Namikango Mission, has donated thirty-two wheelchairs, assorted medical supplies, equipment and toys.
Namikango Missions’ Bisani Mphongolo said, “Our belief is that as a Church we have people in prison who are brothers and sisters. These people are inmates, but they are not outcasts. God loves them as He loves us. These supplies will help improve their living standards.”
Wilson Isaac Tembo and Richard Stephens