In the namelessness of the prison system, which disregards the individual person\u2019s proper name and categorises all as inmates, it would be easy\u2014 very easy\u2014 for those condemned to custodial sentences to slide into dim dreams.<\/p>\n
But, if by some chance one inmate slipped into such a dream in Blantyre Central Business District on Saturday, the incident might have gone unnoticed as smiles and excitement were the dominant marks on the faces of inmates from Chichiri Prison in Blantyre.<\/p>\n
The inmates put their past behind and swept the streets from Clock Tower to Victoria Avenue, capping their activities on the day with a theatrical performance at Blantyre Market.<\/p>\n
It was a day when, in a visible way, the namelessness encouraged by the prison system was set aside and inmates embraced costume.<\/p>\n
And the sweeping exercise itself, despite its visibly physical nature, was only symbolic.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are imploring Blantyre residents to sweep crime out of Blantyre through our theme \u2018Sweep crime in Blantyre\u2019 and promote peace. So, the sweeping exercise was meant to invoke hope that, together, we can bring criminality to its proper end and<\/p>\n
focus on positive things,\u201d said MacArthur Matukuta, one of the organisers-cum-Solomonic Peacocks director.<\/p>\n
However, the sweeping exercise should, in no way, be mistaken for the main dish on the day\u2019s menu. It can, simply, be equated to soup because\u2014 in this case\u2014 it was merely furnishing the main dish, namely theatre, on the menu.<\/p>\n
Solomonic Peacocks has joined hands with the Malawi Prisons Service (MPS) under an initiative dubbed \u2018Theatre for Mindset Change\u2019. And, as if sending home the message that it takes a whole city to stop criminals in their tracks, the cast can fill half a bus.<\/p>\n
The cast has 22 serving prisoners, two ex-prisoners, eight prison wardens and 10 actors from Solomonic Peacocks.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are putting prisoners to good use by using them to shape society in a positive way. Prisoners have the experience [of living the life of a prisoner] and we [as Solomonic Peacocks] have the creative arsenal. Together, we can reduce crime through theatre,\u201d said Matukuta.<\/p>\n
Blantyre Market shoes vendor, Samson Kaliveni, said it was \u201cinteresting\u201d to see prisoners take part in a campaign that reminds them of their dark past without letting such as an experience interfere with their theatrical performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there is creativity and good will in our prisons. But, then, crime prevention requires more than words. It requires selflessness on the part of our leaders. Crime cases are bound to be high in a situation where the youth, as productive citizens of society, remain unemployed. Those who are self-employed, like me, also face challenges, most notably lack of space in markets like Blantyre Market,\u201d said Kaliveni.<\/p>\n
MPS spokesperson, Smart Maliro, recently told our sister paper, The Sunday Times<\/em>, that the prison authorities embraced the idea of letting prisoners work with Solomonic Peacocks because no one\u2014 not even the wardens\u2014 feels happy seeing one more face, hands in cuffs, being escorted into a prison cell.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the namelessness of the prison system, which disregards the individual person\u2019s proper name and categorises all as inmates, it would be easy\u2014 very easy\u2014 for those condemned to custodial sentences to slide into dim dreams. But, if by some chance one inmate slipped into such a dream in Blantyre Central Business District on Saturday, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":27300,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27299"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27303,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27299\/revisions\/27303"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.times.mw\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}