EMPOWERING PRISON WARDERS: BUILDING STRONG FOUNDATIONS FOR INMATE REHABILITATION (CONDUCTED ON 29/07/2016)

by: Chikumbutso Gasper Willard - 18|05|2023

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The Foundation for Active Civic Education (FACE), in partnership with VSO, is carrying out a three-year Prison Health Project in the Zomba district, specifically targeting Mikuyu 1 and Zomba Central Prisons. As part of this initiative, FACE organized a one-day training session focused on psycho-social counseling for prison warders. The training aimed to equip these warders, who are directly involved in prisoner rehabilitation programs, with the necessary skills to become trainers of trainers (TOTs) in psycho-social counseling.

The specific objectives of the training included identifying and understanding the characteristics and problems of prisoners, recognizing psycho-social issues related to prisoners, defining the roles of a client and a counselor, explaining the importance and basic principles of psycho-social counseling, outlining the counseling process, and developing an action plan for implementing counseling activities.

The expected outcomes of the training were for participants to be able to identify prisoners and understand their characteristics and problems, discuss psycho-social issues related to prisoners, define psycho-social counseling and its importance, follow the counseling process when working with inmates, and develop an action plan for implementation.

The topics covered during the training included prisoner characteristics, problems faced by inmates, needs of male and female inmates, psycho-social issues related to prisoners, the roles and qualities of a good counselor, the definition and principles of counseling, counseling techniques and the counseling process, and effective psycho-social support for prisoners.
The training utilized various methodologies such as group work discussions, role play, lecturing, and brainstorming. Handouts and a timetable were provided to the participants, and flip charts, markers, and masking tape were used during the training.

Some of the issues discussed included the implementation of individual and group counseling for inmates in rehabilitation centers, counseling of prison officers to ensure the welfare of inmates, and the mainstreaming of psycho-social counseling in rehabilitation centers by prison warders.
The successes of the training included active participation from the participants, successful delivery of the training content, addressing participants' expectations, and the development of a group work plan and individual work plans for rehabilitation centers.

However, there were also challenges faced, such as pressure due to delayed funding and transportation issues that were resolved after coordination with VSO headquarters.

The report concludes with recommendations for continuous monitoring of the agreed action plans, timely disbursement of funds to allow for adequate preparation, and the extension of training duration to three days for more effective implementation and development of counseling skills through practice.

Overall, the training resulted in increased knowledge among the participants, who demonstrated a better understanding of psycho-social counseling and expressed readiness to implement the activity immediately.