Steve McInnis
Nora teaching form one class
We visited prisons for the first time in late November. We drove to Zomba, 90 minutes from Blantyre, to visit the prison system head office. Our guides were Hastings Phale and Abusa Stanley Chimesya, who work for the Blantyre Synod of Church of Central Africa Presbyterian. We met with prison chaplains Brian and Isaiah, and the head of the education department, Mzumara. We even met with the Warden, Clement. They were happy to see us and encouraged us to work at Zomba prison, not Chichiri as planned. There is a constant competition for “resources”.
The Zomba prison is a gruesome place, with about 2,500 prisoners but meant for about 1,000. We walked through an open area (200 m x 30m?) full of inmates on our way to the school. It would have made a playing field, but it was uneven and littered with a pile of bricks from a building recently torn down. We did see an attempt at improving the living space with a garden. Most of the inmates that we saw were sitting or standing idly. Some were playing board games.
They had buildings for the classrooms and the library was neat and organized. They even had a few computers available during select hours for teachers and students. Most of the teachers and the head master were inmates at the prison, 48 in all. Six of the teachers and the head master were former teachers. One was a government employee. I didn’t ask how they came to be in prison.
Another day, we went to Chichiri prison, 15 minutes from our Blantyre home. We were guided this time by Hastings Phale and Lyca Mhone, volunteers with “Friends of Prisons”. The Chichiri prison is smaller than Zomba. It has 1,845 inmates in an institution meant for 800. Our main host was Samson Zwanget, the education director. We also met Samson Makoro the chaplain and Alex Makwendara, the officer in charge who is a former teacher. Nora reminded Alex Makwendara of his mother, so we should do fine.
We saw the much-upgraded school, along with the science lab and some of the teaching materials they have. The library has been organized and computers added, so now it’s usable. I don’t think I’ll be doing many of the science experiments, but rather I’ll describe them and lead a discussion. There’s not much running water, so some of these experiments will be a challenge. And the Bunsen burner probably has no fuel. They had a bunch of math sets, though (compass, set squares, protractors), that maybe we can pull out and use if I get to that part of the math curriculum.
Nora and I were assigned Forms (grade levels) to teach. Nora is going to teach Forms 1, 2 and 3 – English. Her Form 3 class will be studying MacBeth, which should be easy for her. I will teach Form 1 math and Forms 1 and 3 chemistry. Thankfully, they have a set curriculum and books to follow. Only one book per class, so I’ll need to relay this information without any expectation of students reading up on it overnight, except from their own notebooks.
We naturally have a celebrity status here. This could attract more students to class. Perhaps too many. We’ll likely have a different teaching style that may or may not work in this culture. The material itself doesn’t look too challenging for us, but how we are received by the students will be the chief concern. Nora of course, has taught this all before (and I have often told her she’s the best teacher in Canada), but I’ll need to work on teaching skills. Will my handwriting be legible on a chalkboard?
Overall, an exciting week. More to come.
