adminLance Chigodo Sunday Leisure Reporter
AN inter-denominational ministry, Hospital and Prisons Care Ministries International, on Wednesday donated five bags of rice and 10 bags of maize to Bulawayo Prison as part of efforts to alleviate food shortages in prisons and the country’s hospitals. The ministry which comprises 15 board members and 30 pastors from different churches has taken a step not only to preach the word of God to everyone but to look at the livelihood of such people as patients in hospitals and inmates in the country’s prisons.
In line with its vision to source and distribute relief aid, the Hospital and Prisons Care Ministry International (HPCMI) visited all the prisons and established hospitals in the country to observe the problems that they face as it seeks to bridge the gap between inmates and the society.
The president of the ministry, Reverend Dr Isaac Silumbu told Sunday Leisure that the ministry wanted to set an example that preaching should also come with action and that society should give a hand to the Government when it comes to social issues.
“The ministry works with elders with a passion not only to hear but to act on the concerns of patients in hospitals and inmates in prisons as well as those that would have been affected by natural disasters. The Government should do its part and we as the society have to do our part so that progress is enhanced through social re-integration programmes,” he said.
The ministry also aims at spreading the word and encouraging Bible reading to these establishments.
“We consider prison inmates as normal people who simply need more guidance, counselling and a spiritual connection with God. We also aim at addressing and unpacking the real root causes of criminal behaviour with a particular focus on education, economic empowerment, job creation and social ethics and integrity,” said Rev Dr Silumbu.
The ministry also advocates for better release of convicts to their official homes and better treatment of patients after being discharged from the country’s institutions.
Rev Dr Silumbu added that being a prisoner or a patient can happen to anyone anytime, thus, people should show support and care for the people in those institutions. He also said the prison officers should not take what they do as jobs but as callings because they have to make sure inmates were fully corrected before they were released which tasks needed a lot of dedication and special individuals.
In his speech the officer-in-charge of Bulawayo Prison, Superintendent Greenfield Bulala, expressed gratitude for the donation.
He said just the visit by the ministry to the institution was special as it is one of the least places anyone might want to visit.
“I am very grateful for the donations we have received and I am also glad that for some time I am not going to be calling the regional office to report shortages in food supplies. I also want to thank the ministry for both the physical and spiritual assistance they have granted us,” he said.
Supt Bulala added that society needed to be educated that being in prison does not mean that one should be totally divorced from society and called for more people to assist the inmates in as many ways as they could.
He said Government alone could not achieve its objectives of minimising crime without the support of the society.
Rev Dr Silumbu also added that he was looking forward to more churches joining the inter-denominational ministry so that there could be more hands in the good works they aimed at achieving in the society.
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