Adventist Development and Relief Agency
challenges that were faced particularly by the female prisons such
Committee (ADRA) in Masvingo which had made a as lack of:
donation to the female inmates and their children in Sanitary ware, food for the babies in the prison, soap and Vaseline
Conclusion.
prison.The total quantity of food donated
was 31
among other needs. They welcomed provision of tyres used to
The trip to Masvingo was a success
Boxes of 36 packets of rice mixed with Soya meal.
make Manyatera or sandals for the inmates.
and an example of how
The food was sourced through efforts
of
Mrs
Teclah
communities and church Other major needs were:
Ponde, the Development worker.
Two members
organizations
could beof
mobilized • sanitary ware for they were using pieces of cloths which
staff went for the field visittonamely,
Charles
was a hygiene problem and health hazard
assist offenders within their own
Mudehwe the ZACRO Programs Manager
and
• washing and bathing soap
communities
Teclah Ponde the Development Worker. They held a
• Vaseline
meeting with ADRA Committee representatives at
• jerseys especially since winter was fast approaching
Masvingo Down Town Lodge. Other members
• panties
present included: Mr. Alois Ponde: ADRA
• sugar or salt to put in porridge
Chairperson, Mrs. Shanna Mazorodze: ADRA
• eanut butter for the porridge of children
Committee Member, Mrs. Ruramai Tavaruva:
• Clothes and warm clothing and nappies for babies.
Committee member and Mrs. Maud Mudota Among the female offenders were some under Antiretroviral
Committee Member, Ms Memory Gwasira:
Treatment who needed supplementary food to enable them take t
Volunteer. The ADRA Chairperson who welcomed
medication. The team therefore donated 4 boxes of food towards
everyone to the meeting gave a brief explanation
supplementary food for breastfeeding mothers and those under
that ADRA was the Adventist Church wing
treatment. Some cloths donated to three babies. The ADRA
responsible for spearheading relief and development
representatives made an undertaking to source for tyres and make
services and ts membership was not limited to
Manyatera for female offenders.
Adventists only as some committee members were
from other denominations like Roman Catholic
Church, Harvest House, and Dutch Reformed
Church including Adventists themselves. As a relief
initiative, ADRA initially focused on giving soup to
street kids but when plight of children in Prison was
brought to their attention, they sought assistance to
these kids. They thus mobilized the 31 boxes of
food and some second hand clothing for children..
They were much keen to assess the impact of the
donated food especially that given to children who
were already malnourished. A lot of people were not
aware of the challenges faced by offenders and their
dependents hence Mr. Mudehwe explained
objectives of ZACRO and how ZACRO was
working with offenders and try to alleviate
challenges they faced. The result - volunteers were
keen to work with ZACRO and market it.
Shurugwi Female prison – Midlands
province. (Background Info)
Challenges, Needs and Interventions.
At Shurugwi prison the visiting team met the
Officer in Charge. The prison had just benefited
from the Presidential Amnesty hence the offender
population was very low. There were only 22
female inmates while the prison has a holding
capacity of 50 though at times it housed more than
the holding capacity. Of the 22 offenders, 8 were on
remand, one was pregnant with no preparation
Needs:
They had a netball pitch and needed netballs.
Food for children was inadequate and there was no supplementary
food for the sick and those taking ARVS and there was need for a
peer education program on HIV/Aids.
Baby clothing and preparation material for expecting mothers was
needed too. The prison however does not have a clinic. Sick
inmates were taken to Shurugwi hospital. It was envisaged that it
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