Newsday 7 June 2014

lifestyle NewsDay saturday june 7, 2014 9
Prison, a blessing in disguise for others
OBEY MANAYITI
STAFF REPORTER
IMAGINING incarceration in
Zimbabwe prisons always
invokes sad feelings from
members of the public.
One would always think
about the lice-infested blankets,
sodomy, food shortage, sickness
and death.
But for Privilege Ramos (37)
from Mutasa District in Manicaland
province, who is serving a
32-month jail-term for attempted
murder, incarceration has come
as a blessing in disguise.
After 17 months behind bars,
Ramos has acquired a life skill of
welding, something that he had
never imagined in his life.
Upon completion of his jail
term, he hopes to start a welding
business of his own and move on
with life.
His story is one of many shared
by other inmates who are receiving
training in various self-sustaining
disciplines offered by the
Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional
Services (ZPCS).
Apart from equipping inmates
with life skills, the ZPCS is currently
doing construction work
of different forms in schools and
other institutions in Mutare at a
charge to enable it to generate
revenue so that it sustains itself.
ZPCS superintendent Elton
Gumindega said: “The whole idea
is to turn prisons into a viable
business entity so that we don’t
continuously milk from the fiscus
and that in the long term we
achieve self-sustenance.”
He added: “In the short term
we want to cover running costs
such as repair of our vehicles, fuel
for the courts, stationery and daily
administrative issues.”
Gumindega sad part of the
money will be used to cater for
transport for inmates upon release
in the form of bus fares while the
other will be used to buy small
things such as toiletries, salt or
cooking oil.
The organisation has carried
out renovation and repair work
at Mutare Boys High where the
infrastructure was constructed
as far back as 1950s. It renovated
classroom blocks, ablution facilities
and the canteen as well as repairing
the plumbing system and
fixing burglar bars.
Mutare Boys High School head,
Mathew Tondoya said the ZPCS
had done a splendid work at the
school.
He said the school wasted a
lot of money on some contractors
“bent on making money without
doing proper construction”.
“For other contractors the
work they do will not last for even
two terms and we will be wasting
money in engaging them. This is
quite durable and we are happy
with the work they are doing,” he
said.
ZPSC has also embarked on an
ambitious project at their Prison
Farm to construct a school which
will cater for the children of the
officers and the local community.
ZPSC chief superintendent
Zondai Cleopas Nyatsanza said the
Mutare Farm Prison Junior School
will go a long way in helping both
the local community and prison
officers.
Nyatsanza, who is the Chief
Staff Officer responsible for administration
in Manicaland province,
said it was cheaper for them
as labour was readily available in
the form of highly skilled prison
officers and the inmates.
The inmates manufacture window
frames and doorframes at the
prison.
“We discovered that there are
a number of children within Mutare
Prison Farm who are going
to schools in town because we
have no school here. Equally the
same, the surrounding community
has no school and this one
will be handy to everyone,” said
Nyatsanza.
The school has already been
registered and four teachers were
employed to teach 50 pupils enrolled
in ECD and grade 1.
Besides construction, the ZPCS
is also involved in the rehabilitation
of its female inmates and former
inmates through partnership
with a local organisation called
Gogo Olive.
The initiative, started by Julie
Hagan, is open to vulnerable
women as well as prison inmates
and former inmates.
Hagan said the initiative was
meant to ensure that struggling
women get something out of
working on their own.
For the inmates, they will receive
training during incarceration
and afterwards they will join
others to knit doles which are
marketable in part countries in
the world.
The doles are exported and
on average, the women receive
$180 a month from the sale of the
doles.
TILL DEATH DO US PART . . .
Clemence Chikerema and Nyasha Joseph tied the knot at Aspindale Sports Club on April 26 2014
Rosa Chakwawa (35) who
benefited from the recent Presidential
Pardon said the training
and incorporation she got in the
Gogo Olive initiative had opened
a new lease of life to her.
“When I was released from
prison, everyone welcomed
me here and as you can see it’s
now business as usual as we
are knitting these doles,” said
Chakwawa. “I am managing to
pay for my rent, pay fees for my
children as well as buy food. I
urge all the prison inmates to
take the training they get seriously
as it will be a stepping
stone afterwards.”
Blood clots linked to air pollution
In 2013, air pollution was identified as
a leading environmental cause of lung
cancer and a major contributing factor
in an array of other heart and lung diseases.
New research this week at the
London School of Hygiene & Tropical
Medicine validated these findings and
linked irregular heartbeats and blood
clots in the lungs to air pollution.
Air pollution can occur anywhere
and occurs when any chemical, physical
or biological agent contaminates
the environment. According to the
World Health Organisation (WHO),
stoves in the home, motor vehicles,
industrial facilities and forest fires are
common sources of air pollution.
“Pollutants of major public health
concern include particulate matter,
carbon monoxide, ozone, nitrogen
dioxide and sulphur dioxide. Both
ambient (outdoor) and household
(indoor) air pollution cause respiratory
and other diseases, which can be
fatal.
“The evidence shows that environmental
risk factors play a role in more
than 80% of the diseases regularly
reported by the WHO. Globally, nearly
one quarter of all deaths and of the
total disease burden can be attributed
to the environment.”
In March, WHO reported that
around 7 million people died in 2012 -
one in eight of total global deaths – as
a result of air pollution exposure. In
2013, they even classified the hazards
of air pollution to be in the same category
as tobacco smoke, UV radiation
and plutonium.
“The new estimates are not only
based on more knowledge about
the diseases caused by air pollution,
but also upon better assessment
of human exposure to air pollutants
through the use of improved measurements
and technology,” explains
WHO.
“Cleaning up the air we breathe
prevents noncommunicable diseases
as well as reduces disease
risks among women and vulnerable
groups, including children and the elderly,”
says Dr Flavia Bustreo, WHO
Assistant Director-General Family,
Women and Children’s Health.
“Poor women and children pay a
heavy price from indoor air pollution
since they spend more time at home
breathing in smoke and soot from
leaky coal and wood cook stoves.”
Blood clots and irregular heart
beats aside, children also experience
more generalised illnesses, such
as bronchitis, asthma and earaches
when exposed to the chemical onslaught
of environmental pollution.
More than 50% of premature
deaths of children under-five are due
to pneumonia that is caused by soot
inhaled from household air pollution.
However, the absolute cause and effect
of pollutants on health is often
impossible to obtain. This is due to individual
differences such as genetics,
one’s overall health, history of exposure
and a pollutants reaction time.
For example, elderly individuals
have often breathed in more pollution
and have a decreased ability to filter
out and dispose of its toxic components.
This is one of the reasons that
the strongest link to blood clots and
irregular heartbeats was seen in the
over-75s and in women.
“Few risks have a greater impact on
global health today than air pollution;
the evidence signals the need for concerted
action to clean up the air we all
breathe,” explained Dr Maria Neira, Director
of WHO’s Department for Public
Health, Environmental and Social Determinants
of Health.
Concerted action from groups, organisations,
schools and businesses
can address the global environmental
issues. Now in its 22nd year, Clean
Up the World, held in conjunction
with the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP), mobilises an estimated
35 million volunteers from 130
countries annually, making it one of
the largest community-based environmental
campaigns in the world.
If you would like to be involved, visit
www.cleanuptheworld.org/en/