• THE team preparing meals to share with prisoners during the Easter period Mwembeshi open air prison.

By MIRIAM ZIMBA –

Prisons are a closed society with very stringent security measures in place though inmates have ways of entertaining themselves, interaction with members of the public is highly restricted.
This is especially true for maximum security prisons, which have restrictions even for visitations.
However, the just ended  2015 Easter period, will be a memorable experience for the more than 800 inmates at Mwembeshi maximum and open air prisons.
This is a day that they got to interact with more than 200 parishioners from St Ignatius Catholic Church in Lusaka.
The group led by Parish Priests Jones Mwelwa and Charles Chilinda comprising  the youth, young adults, leaders of various lay groups, various small Christian communities, nuns and a team of medical doctors, set off for Mwembeshi, about 50 kilometres west of Lusaka.
This visitation was a direct response to Pope Francis’ challenge to Catholics worldwide to adhere to the biblical teachings of Matthew  Chapter 25,  during the just ended Lenten season.
As a way of marking the end of the Holy Week and commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the parishioners embarked on a participatory visitation to Mwembeshi, which involved the cleaning of prison surroundings, as well as the preparation of food and sharing of a meal with the inmates and prisons staff.
Father Chilinda, who is the  Superior for the Jesuit Community at St. Ignatius, explains that the visit to Mwembeshi prisons was a way of actualising the challenge by the Pope.
“During Lent, we were called upon by the Pope to make Mathew 25 our very own by putting it into practice. We were reminded by the Pope to focus on the sick, the poor and the prisoners,” he said.
According to him, charity is the heart of Christian faith and that Christians are called upon by Christ to minister to the less privileged.
He explains that one of ways of doing so is by reaching out to those ostracised by society such as the prisoners.
Christ himself led by example through showing compassion to the poor, the sick and others in need.
Fr Chilinda explains that serving God can only be achieved through service to people in need, because the Bible says ‘if you want to see the face of Christ, you see it in the faces of those in need.’
“The visitations to Mwembeshi prisons was a way of showing the face of our resurrected Christ and to share in the brokenness of this world and give hope to the prisoners that, there is redemption in sin.
“By so doing we show them the compassionate side of Christ,” he said. The group was divided into two, one group visited the Maximum prison and the other went to the open air prison.

• A parishioner preparing nshima at the Mwembeshi open air prison.

After a prayer and sharing of roles, the parishioners set out into the kitchens and began preparation of an Easter meal for the inmates and prisons staff.
Fortunately for those that went into the maximum prison, life was made a little easier as they were able to use electrical cookers and other kitchen appliances. All they needed to do was carry on with the preparations of the meal.
In the case of those that went to the open air prison, it was more labour intensive because the preparation of the outside kitchen began by cleaning the surroundings, fetching water and firewood, before the actual preparation of the meal could commence.
Having realised the intensity of the work involved, the parishioners quickly shared roles on who would carry out what task. Before long, what at first glance seemed like it would take the whole day,  was completed shortly  after midday.
The inmates at the open air prisons were more than glad to help out the parishioners with most of the chores.
The inmates felt a sense of belonging and most of them opened up to share stories of how they were convicted of various crimes that landed them into incarceration.
After the hard day’s work and the meal was finally served, the inmates and the parishioners enjoyed it together and shared a lot of light moments.
In fact, the expression on the faces of the inmates was so priceless, because it was one that spoke volumes of gratitude and hope.
In their own words, they described the gesture by the parishioners as one that reflects true Christianity.
“Not many people can do what you have done for us today. A lot of people just come here to visit their relatives with promises of coming back, but they never do. Other prisoners have been here for so long without ever having any friend or relative to visit them, let alone bring food.
“Most of you here have come just to spend the day with us, people you do not even know. You have taken time off your busy schedules to be with us and we are more than grateful to you,” he said.
The inmates appealed to members of the public, business houses as well as non-governmental organisations to emulate what the church is doing in reaching out to prisoners and others in need.
Various medical services were provided by doctors in the team as a free service, and medication was also administered to the sick.
For now, the doctors are compiling a report that will be submitted to the Parish council and some recommendations will also be made to Government on the needs of the prisoners.
Currently, the Lusaka Arch diocese has a programme on visitations of prisons by the various Catholic churches in its jurisdiction.
This visit by parishioners from St Ignatius marks the many more planned visitations to the prisons.
On Valentine’s Day which came earlier in the year, parishioners from St. Ignatius made similar visits to the University Teaching Hospital (UTH), Levy Mwanawasa General Hospital (LMGH) and Chainama Hills hospital.
For these parishioners, Valentine’s Day was one characterised by not only material and financial contributions to the hospitals, but also sharing their time.
They actively took part in preparation and feeding of the patients and their care givers who were in excess of over 2000 people at UTH alone, and more than 1000 patients at LMGH and Chainama Hills Hospital.
On this day, the visitation coincided with the gospel reading of the day taken from Mathew 14:13-21 in which Jesus Christ fed five thousand people with only five loaves of bread and two fish.
The history behind these visitations was one hatched by Father Chilinda, who was moved by the afflictions faced by under-privileged patients and  care-givers at hospitals.
“I went to visit a patient admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH). I was able to see some of the challenges faced by nurses and care-givers in looking after patients in the ICU,” he explained.
Fr Chilinda then asked the nurses there if they had any special needs that would relieve some of the challenges they encounter.
He was given a list of requirements, which included among others,  cleaning materials and slippers worn in the ICU.
The feeding programme at LMGH and Chainama Hills Hospital came about as a result of the success of the feeding programme at UTH in January 2015.
Apart from the financial and material support from the Church, one woman  who opted to remain anonymous donated her entire one month’s salary towards the feeding programme at the two hospitals.
In commending this gesture, Fr Chilinda explained that the woman was probably moved by the wonders God had done in her life.
According to him, the compassion and love of Christ can only manifest in the way Christians treat people around them.
“This is what is Christian love is and for these young people, this day has taken on a very different meaning.
“It is sharing love with the people who really need it. The fact that the (young people) were able to  prepare the food themselves and feed the patients, goes to show love that is not just giving the gift, but actually participating which makes a lot of difference.”
He said a lot of people were able to give money but not many can give love and compassion.
The die has been cast, it is only hoped that the works of charity initiated by Father Chilinda will be nurtured by the young adults and the youth, to ensure its sustainability.
It is often said that “love is never love until it is given away,” and this is exactly what parishioners of St. Ignatius Parish did, when they reached out to those in need.