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Projects in Zambia
Helping the most vulnerable
Ubumi works with health, education and reintegration with a rights perspective
The Ubumi Prisons Initiative works with health, including mental health, education, and reintegration from a rights-based perspective. Ubumi supports the most vulnerable people in Zambia’s prisons, targeting children, youth, pregnant women, mothers, people with mental illness, and those who are severely physically ill.
The prisons face severe challenges, including extreme overcrowding, lack of hygiene, and poor nutrition. In some prisons, overcrowding is alarming, leading to significant health issues. Tuberculosis, malnutrition, and mental health disorders are widespread. HIV/AIDS is also a serious problem, with prevalence rates exceeding the national average of 12%. About 25% of inmates are awaiting trial – a process that can take several years for those without resources to advance their case. Poverty-related crimes make up the majority of crime in Zambia, meaning most people in prison are imcarcerated for minor offences.
Food security is low, and the nutritional quality of the food is poor. We work to improve food security for the most vulnerable through initiatives like vegetable gardens. The availability of quality education in prisons is also limited. Therefore, we support a range of educational initiatives, such as IT workshops, while also building capacity among both inmates and staff in areas like health and mental health.
We work to promote reintegration through programmes both within and outside the prisons. Former inmates, along with vulnerable members of the community, participate in training and internship programmes, with a focus on agricultural skills.
Ubumi collaborates closely with volunteer inmates and prison staff. We find ways for inmates to take responsibility for the projects themselves. Our approach is to identify and use the resources already available within the prisons, both physical and human. Inmates actively participate in the projects rather than being passive recipients. Every day volunteers make a significant effort to improve conditions for other inmates, children, and youth.
Rights, Health & Mental Health,
Advocacy, and Partnerships
Advocating for inmate rights, especially regarding health and mental health, is central to Ubumi’s work. We work to change structures that lead to rights violations in prisons. Our approach is to build a positive relationship with authorities, which allows us to support strategic plans as well as daily operations and emergency efforts. We also partner with many local organisations that share our values to amplify advocacy efforts, enhance synergies, and increase efficiency across Zambia.
Ubumi participates in the Prisons Health Advisory Committee, a nationwide coordination body led by Zambia’s Prison Service. This committee meets regularly to discuss cases, share experiences, and improve services. Ubumi contributes to the committee’s annual work plan and actively participates in annual conferences aimed at improving collaboration and transparency across various institutions, including public authorities, partner organisations, and Zambia’s prison service. We are also part of several other alliances such as Technical Working Group for Mental Health and the Reintegration Alliance RAFIIP.
Support for children
The children's project
In some prisons children up to the age of four live with their incarcerated mothers and need assistance. These children The prison environment lacks opportunities for play and normal development, as well as sufficient nutritional value of food.
Ubumi’s work focuses on general health and child development. We address this by providing children and mothers with extra food, clothing, soap, and other basic necessities.
We have established playhouses and play areas for children, allowing them to play and learn in a less stressful environment while their mothers also gain access to educational opportunities.
Nutrition and Routine
For Youth
Ubumi’s youth project in Zambian prisons focuses on nutrition and establishing constructive daily routines. Young inmates, aged 12–18 and sometimes younger, may be awaiting trial, sentencing, or transfer to facilities for those under 18 years of age. We work with prison staff to ensure there are positive and responsible adults to support the youth. We focus on educational or sports activities to alleviate some of the stress young inmates face, whilst also supporting their health and nutrition.
Through collaboration with a Danish football coach, Buster Kirchner, who worked with Ubumi some years back, we have developed a ‘Catalogue’ for sports activities in prisons. This initiative has continued through the dedication of inmate and staff volunteers.
Nutrition and Routine
For the Seriously Ill
Prisons are high-risk environments for disease outbreaks, including diarrhoea, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS, and skin diseases. Malnutrition in combination with other illnesses and insufficient health care is a major challenge.
To tackle this, Ubumi and its partners implement the Ubumi Model, which includes:
- Nutrition improvements through kitchen gardens.
- Care for the critically ill provided by trained inmate volunteers with support from prison health staff and Ubumi.
- Protection from infectious diseases through access to clean drinking water and improved hygiene.
- Distribution of essential supplies.
The project for critically ill inmates consists of a team of approximately 10-15 volunteer caregivers among the inmates (cooks, cleaners, caretakers of the ill, and volunteer gardeners) in each prison. The caregivers are trained in hygiene, care, nutrition, and the most common illnesses found in prisons. The team is led by an inmate, titled the Ubumi Inmate Coordinator, who works closely with the prison health staff to provide the best possible care.
The volunteer caregivers are responsible for taking care of the patients. They ensure that the patients take their medication, wash their clothes, bathe them, and feed them. Ubumi provides supplies such as protein and soap. The project has together with partners and Zambia Correctional Service support delivered remarkable results, particularly in improved nutrition and a significant reduction in mortality —by up to 95% in some prisons.
The Ubumi Model won the Zenith Global Health Award in 2022 for “going beyond the call of duty and delivering quality healthcare efforts to particularly vulnerable communities.”
Vegetable Gardens and nutrition for the vulnerable
Food Security
When feasible, Ubumi establishes vegetable gardens in prisons where inmate volunteers grow vegetables such as carrots, onions, cabbage, and tomatoes. These vegetables improve the diet of the most vulnerable inmates, including mothers, pregnant women, children, youth, and the critically ill. On average, these gardens feed 50-75 people with fresh produce three times a week.
Vegetables mean everything in an environment where meals consist of a cup of rice for breakfast and a type of maize porridge with beans for lunch/dinner. The inmates only receive food twice a day. Vegetables ensure that their diet becomes slightly healthier. Additionally, Ubumi—supported in part by member contributions—purchases food (especially protein sources), hygiene materials, and medicine. Currently, more than 100 volunteers are working in Zambia’s prisons to assist the most vulnerable inmates. These include those working in the gardens, others acting as caregivers for children aged 0-4 who are in prison with their mothers, and those preparing meals for young inmates aged 10-19. There are also volunteers providing nursing care and cleaning services to benefit the critically ill. The gardens are a significant part of our projects’ success.
IT knowledge is a school subject in Zambia
Education and Reintegration
IT skills are part of the school curriculum in Zambia. An inmate established an IT room in Kabwe’s maximum-security prison before Ubumi began its work there. Since 2012, Ubumi has supported this facility, enabling inmates to learn practical computer skills. Ubumi now operates four IT rooms across various prisons and has also established or updated libraries in 12 prisons, housing thousands of books in both fiction and non-fiction.
Education supports inmates’ reintegration into society upon release, equipping them with skills that help prevent reoffending due to poverty-related issues.
Imprisonment is mentally challenging
Mental Health and Empowerment
Incarceration is mentally taxing, and people in prison are far from passive recipients of external aid.
There is no doubt that imprisonment is psychologically demanding. It is a struggle simply to survive.
But people in prison are far from passive recipients of help from the outside. They take responsibility for others in many ways.
People in prison can support and help each other in many ways. They may share their small food rations with others, share clothes with one another, or help in many other ways.
They also help in more formal ways. Schools, for example, are run by people in prison who act as teachers, and many of the daily activities are organised by them. In our projects for the most vulnerable (children, young people, pregnant women, the seriously ill, and people with mental illness or psychological vulnerability) in the prisons, those with more resources support the most marginalised. They volunteer as coordinators, gardeners, cooks and carers. In the women’s sections, incarcerated volunteers work with the small children. Among the older boys in the men’s sections, there are also volunteers who, for example, organise school the boys.
We also have incarcerated volunteers whom we train in mental health so they can provide counselling or facilitate self-help groups.
In this way, Ubumi works with strengthening incarcerated people’s voices and sense of self. Many volunteers experience a new sense of meaning in their everyday lives, which for many leads to significant personal development. They also gain greater recognition within the system, and their voices are heard by the civil society organisations that work with our “Ubumi Model” – of course Ubumi Zambia itself, but also our partner organisations in different parts of the country.
Mental illness is overrepresented
Psychological Vulnerability and Mental Health
People with mental illnesses are overrepresented in crime statistics worldwide, and in poorer countries, inadequate psychiatric care often exacerbates this vulnerability. Incarceration presents a high risk for developing mental health issues due to factors like overcrowding, violence, lack of meaningful activities, isolation from family, and uncertainty.
Ubumi raises awareness about mental health among decision-makers, provides capacity building for civil society and authorities, and trains inmates and health staff, while also directly treating mental health issues through mentorships, advice, and self-help groups in 14 prisons.
We also work to facilitate linkages between ministry of health facilities (hospitals and clinics), as well as support improved supply chain of for instance provision of medication – a major factor in prison health.
This program has been highly successful, showing great potential for change in an area that urgently needs improvement.
Based on fundamental principles
The Ubumi Model
- The Ubumi Model is a holistic and strategic approach to problem-solving, carefully tailored to fit the local context.
- Empowerment of people in prison: Volunteers take responsibility for various projects, fostering empowerment by leveraging their skills and resources
- Volunteerism: Inmates help one another, creating a supportive community within the prison
- Capacity Building: Training for both inmates and prison staff in key areas such as food production, health, and more
- Government Involvement: Engaging and gaining support from authorities and prison staff through education, accountability, commitment, and further capacity-building initiatives
- Self-help Initiatives: Encouraging self-sustaining projects, including food production
- Strong Control Systems and Good Local Leadership: Emphasis on robust management and accountability systems at the local level
The advantages of the Ubumi approach include:
- A holistic and context-sensitive strategy for addressing complex challenges within prisons
- Inmate empowerment through responsibility, allowing prisoners to contribute meaningfully to their environment
- Volunteerism that fosters a sense of community and mutual support
- Capacity building for both inmates and staff in essential areas like food security and healthcare
- Involvement and backing from authorities and prison staff, strengthened through education, empowerment, and accountability
- Self-sufficiency initiatives that build resilience, particularly through sustainable food production projects
- Strong oversight and local leadership, ensuring effectiveness and sustainability