As one way of showing love and support to inmates, Teveta and Uthunthu Ministries have launched a sustainable skills development program called Freedom Through Skills targeting prisoners.
The launch took place in Lilongwe at Maula Prison. Through the program, 125 prisoners will be trained in different skills which include bricklaying, motorcycle repairing and soap making.
Speaking on Tuesday after the launch of the program, Uthunthu Ministries Executive Director Caswell Mkanda said the organisations have partnered with Teveta to train prisoners in different skills so that when they go back to the community they should have something to do instead of just staying.
“For a start we are piloting this here at Maula. We are working with 75 students but we are also working with women inmates at Kachere Prison, they are about 50 in total. So we are targeting youthful people because the 2063 vision is mostly youth centric. We also want people who have got sound academic background and also people who are sharp in the way they grasp things,” said Mkanda.
In his remarks, Teveta Executive Director Elwin Chiwembu Sichiola said their plan is to make sure that skills and development programs are available in each and every prison in the country.
He said the program will also be implemented at Mzuzu Prison before being extended to other prisons in Malawi.
“What we will be doing as Teveta together with Uthunthu is to also reach out to partners who are ready to work with us in this program when it comes to financing so that we have enough resources to spread this program to all prisons,” said Sichiola.
The launch was graced by Commissioner General of Malawi Prison Service Masauko Ng’ombeyagwada Wiskot.
Speaking at the event, Wiskot said the launch of skills development in prisons by Uthunthu and Teveta is very important to the Malawi Prison Service and this initiative will have a big impact on the prisoners when they go back to their communities.
“You might be aware that one of the reasons that we have repeat offenders in prisons is because these prisoners come without skills and go back without skills. So the coming in of Teveta to impart skills in these prisoners is a good initiative because they will go out with skills and they will successfully be integrated into the community,” said Wiskot.
