|
Back to Index
Businesswomen
donate sanitary ware to prisons
Simplisio Chirinda, ZimOnline
October 16, 2007
http://www.zimonline.co.za/Article.aspx?ArticleId=2171
HARARE -
A group of top Zimbabwean businesswomen has sourced sanitary pads
and food supplements for women serving jail terms in the country's
prisons where prisoners are living in de-humanising conditions and
often suffer from malnutrition and other diseases as a result of
food shortages.
The group had
been touched by the plight of women in Zimbabwean prisons, many
of whom do not get a chance to observe their reproductive rights
as result of the shortage of sanitary pads in prisons.
The donation,
coordinated by Harare businesswoman Abigail Magwenzi through her
organisation called Celebrate A Sister, was sourced by Grace Muradzikwa,
Pindie Nyandoro, Charity Jinya and Chipo Mutasa.
Muradzikwa is
chief executive officer of insurance company NICOZ Diamond while
Nyandoro heads the Zimbabwean operations of South African banking
group Standard Bank.
Charity Jinya
is chief executive officer of Barclays Bank and Mutasa heads hotel
and leisure group Rainbow Tourism Group.
The donation
is enough to supply female inmates in prisons around the country
with sanitary pads for one year.
Mangwenzi, who
is co-ordinator of Celebrate A Sister, said her organisation signed
a memorandum of understanding with the Zimbabwe Prison Service (ZPS)
as part of a campaign to assist female prisoners.
"We have
signed a memorandum of understanding with ZPS and we will assist
it with critical logistics such as sanitary pads and food supplements
for children who live with their mothers in prisons as well as help
with the rehabilitation of these female inmates," Magwenzi
told journalists yesterday.
The campaign
involves assisting teach inmates with life skills and helping to
rehabilitate them.
Magwenzi has
since started a competition to reward the best female inmate in
Zimbabwe's prisons.
Many prisoners
in Zimbabwe have constantly complained about the lack of adequate
sanitary facilities and food, which has resulted in several unreported
deaths and cases of disease outbreaks.
Some have also
complained about the lack of access to life prolonging drugs such
as antiretroviral drugs, which the Zimbabwean government can barely
afford to buy for the huge prison population.
"The situation
in the prisons is bad and we would like to help and do our role
as women to help children some of who are suffering from malnutrition.
It is only when you get in there that you will appreciate the magnitude
of the problem," said Magwenzi who also announced plans to
get a farm where the organisation would produce food for female
prisoners and their children.
Last year, the
Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions sourced and donated a consignment of
sanitary towels worth US$7 000 after a huge outcry over the price
of sanitary wear, which has gone way above the reach of many Zimbabwean
women.
Many women in
Zimbabwe are now using newspapers, tissues and rags as substitutes
for tampons and pads.
An outbreak
of pellagra earlier this year killed 23 inmates at the notorious
Chikurubi Maximum Prison where hardcore prisoners are kept.
Zimbabwe's prison
system was condemned this year by a parliamentary delegation, which
visited jails around the country.
The country
has about 35 000 people incarcerated in 42 jails, a number which
is said to be well over the designed capacity of about 17 000 inmates.
The country
is in the midst of an economic meltdown, marked by world record
inflation, shortages of drugs, food, electricity and water.
A stint at any
of the country's prisons is now regarded as a sure death penalty
for Zimbabweans.
Please credit www.kubatana.net if you make use of material from this website.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License unless stated otherwise.
TOP
|
