In a groundbreaking initiative, female inmates at Shimo la Tewa Prison are set to benefit from opportunities to establish and manage businesses to support their families and lay the foundation for startup ventures upon their release.
Correctional Services Principal Secretary, Salome Beacco spearheaded the pioneering of the Shimo la Tewa Women Prison Chandaria Workshop.
The workshop will encompass a bakery, tailoring, and ICT hub, and also the ‘Karakana Project’, an initiative by First Lady Rachel Ruto where the female inmates will be trained on cross-crocheting.
The PS said that the initiative was taken to empower women by fostering entrepreneurship, enabling them to build essential capital for future business endeavors and reintegration into society, and also contribute to their long-term economic self-sufficiency.
Beacco said inmates have a chance to get vocational and educational training skills in various sectors at the prison workshop and be equipped with commercial equipment, raw materials plus a seed capital to kick-start production.
The workshop will be used as a training center for inmates on different skills they require, and in return get markets of their products outside; with the proceeds they generate being used to uplift their family’s lives.
“As part of our reforms package, the Department for Correctional Services offers inmates various rehabilitation programs while in prison, including education and vocational training skills similar to what will go on in this workshop once completed,” said Beacco.
It will support the prison’s newly established Entrepreneurship and Vocational Training which is set to equip the inmates with skills that they can rely on once released.
Beacco said the Shimo la Tewa workshop is the third after a similar one was unveiled in Meru and Lang’ata women prisons. She said similar projects will be unveiled in Kisumu and Nyeri prisons later this year.
“The Workshop will be the third after the expansion of the Chandaria Lang’ata Women Prison Workshop which will be launched on February 6, 2024, and the Chandaria Meru Women Prison Workshop which will be handed over on February 14, 2024,” she noted.
“The idea that this workshop will be run as a social enterprise with the proceeds aimed at assisting the inmates for skills development and to reintegrate back to the society is yet another opportunity for the inmates to reconnect with society,” Beacco said.
“At this juncture, I wish to thank the Chandaria Foundation for this great initiative that perfectly complements our programs at the correctional services. I have no doubt whatsoever that this rehabilitative initiative will certainly help many people get back on their feet and eventually become constructive members of society,” she concluded.
By Fatma Said
