By Alinafe kapatamoyo

Lilongwe, November 28, Mana: Theatre for a Change has launched sensitization and psychosocial support groups at Maula and Kachere prisons as part of a three-year project focused on enhancing prisoners' health, particularly in terms of mental health.

The initiative is funded by the European Union (EU) and aims to address the significant challenges faced by prisoners.

Social and Protection Manager for Theatre for a Change, Thandiwe Mbene, highlighted the importance of collaboration with Malawi Prison Services to improve inmates' living conditions, focusing particularly on mental health and HIV management.

She emphasized the organization’s focus on new prisoners, who often experience stress and lose hope upon arrival, which can lead to the abandonment of crucial medical treatments like ARVs.

“We are aiming to provide mental health support to help these individuals regain hope and manage their well-being in a prison environment,” said Mbene.

Speaking on behalf of the Officer in Charge for Maula Prison, Inspector Edward Msowoya, who is also a Clinical Officer at the Prison Clinic, expressed appreciation for the programme, noting its potential to help inmates, especially those who have been in prison for a short time to cope with mental health challenges.

He stressed that many prisoners view detention as the end of their lives, and the new initiative would help change that mindset by providing better mental health support.

“We are very happy because of this initiative considering that in prisons we face a lot of challenges with issues of mental health, so the coming of this programme will help to improve the living standards of inmates mostly those that have just spent a few months in prison and also even those that have saved long here in prison but they were lacking this access of knowing how to overcome issues that affect their well-being in terms of mental health,” said Msowoya.

During the event, Theatre for a Change also presented certificates to inmates who had excelled in training sessions on mental health and psychological first aid.

One of the inmates, Robert Moses, a peer educator, thanked Theatre for a Change for the valuable training, stating that it has empowered them to better understand and address mental health issues within the prison community.

“We appreciate the good work that this organisation is doing for us because such training has helped us a lot in terms of knowing how issues of mental health can be handled and we will be able to help our friends who are facing such kind of challenges,” said Moses.

The programme is seen as a vital collaborative effort between Theatre for a Change and Malawi Prison Services,