A NON-PROFIT organisation has approached the Noah’s Ark Church to allow prison inmates who are about to be released to use its space for vocational training purposes.
The Inside Out Development Trust (IODT) said former prisoners from Khami and Bulawayo prisons could receive training at the premises when they are released from jail. This was revealed on Friday last week when the trust donated clothes for girls at the Noah’s Ark Church.
Noah’s Ark Church founder, Reverend Ferbie Tshuma told Southern Eye that the church has always made it its mission to assist less privileged people in its years of existence.
“So, as a church we work with squatters and the less privileged people. We go as far as Binga, Tsholotsho and around Bulawayo helping others as a church,” Tshuma said.
“We are a Christian care church and when we look for NGOs to assist us, we first ask them if the support God’s work or not.”
Tshuma said she was impressed by IODT’s idea to engage prison inmates so that they come out better people who could stand on their own.
“Right now, we want to work with prison inmates because we have a mission house that we want them to utilise so that they can have their workshops here in the church because we saw that they do very good jobs when they are in prison.
“We wish they can come and work at the workshops because we have a lot of space here at the church for them to help themselves,” she said.
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Tshuma also expressed gratitude to the trust for planning to work with former inmates while assisting the girl child.
“We are very happy with IODT which is looking at assisting young girls. Our girls always look good because they always donate to us pads, bathing soaps and clothes. Right now, as l am talking, they have donated clothes for the girls and they always empower these young girls by teaching them to be well behaved,” Tshuma said.
IODT administrator Nomvuyo Garura said assisting former prisoners would ensure that the former inmates did not become a burden to relatives when they wore out of prison.
“The idea of the halfway home is to enforce reintegration of prison inmates to society. Actually, what will be happening is those who are about to come out of prison will be coming here to do their projects.
“We are doing this so that when some of them are coming out of prison they will be having a source of income. Another thing is for them to know what will be happening around the communities that they will be living in,” Garura said.
In the first three months of next year, the inmates are expected to work on their projects everyday.
