Please help the Zomba Prison Project (Malawi) to continue

 

The outpouring of love in the wake of 60 Minutes story about the Zomba Prison Project has been overwhelming. Thank you to everyone that has sent us messages from around the world. In answer to many of your questions.

How to donate to the Zomba Prison Project

Zomba Prison holds over 2,000 prisoners in a facility that was designed for a capacity of only 340. The inmates are only fed one meal per day, and during shortages can go for up to three days without food.

All donations here will go directly to Sister Anna Tommasi who has devoted her life and work to helping Zomba and other Malawian prisons. Funds will be used for the ongoing food donations she does throughout each month, hospice care for those with advanced HIV/AIDS, assistance for the children of Zomba (female prisoners are allowed to keep one of their children up until age 5), and legal representation for select cases (in general, bail costs approximately a mere $100 usd and appeals around $275 each.)

Many of the prisoners are monolingual Chichewa and well over half are officially reported as illiterate. This makes understanding their own legal hearings (which are conducted in English), quite difficult. A further obstacle for those that live far from Zomba is that transportation is often not available for them to be present at their own hearings.

Please send any monetary donations to Sister Anna directly via Paypal at Associazione “Con Anna per il Malawi” Onlus info@annapermalawi.it

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An article in English with more information about her work can be found here in one of Malawi’s major newspapers.

In addition to financial donations, books are needed for the two libraries (one is older and smaller, the other is a larger one that was just established by Sister Anna last year) within Zomba Prison. Also pens and notebooks are much needed by the school that educates hundreds inside the facility. And bars of soap are a basic necessity that is greatly valued and perennially in shortage.
But please BEWARE that more expensive items could suffer very large customs charges to be received by the prison. So care should be taken to not send expensive physical items (e.g., laptops; musical instruments; etc.).

And any item— but particularly food stuffs— could potentially be confiscated by the government at the border. 

Physical donations can be sent to:

 

National Prison Headquarters
P.O. Box 28
Zomba, Malawi (there is no zip code)

Please also consider sending donations of items or money to the Prison Fellowship, who also do very wonderful work in the country (and assisted with our  initial introduction to the prison in 2013):

 

Prison Fellowship Malawi
Andiamo Loop Road
P.O. Box 399
Balaka, Malawi (no zip code)

 

ZICOMO!!!!!! (“thank you”)

Ian Brennan & Marilena Delli & Six Degrees Records

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Many of you have asked about sending actual items like books and instruments to the prisoners. Unfortunately, this is quite complicated and there remains no guarantee that these will easily get over the border and into the hands of the prisoners. We encourage you to donate funds directly to Sister Anna via the link above.

How to purchase both releases by the Zomba Prison Project

I Will Not Stop Singing: https://sixdegrees.lnk.to/PplSi

I Have No Everything Here: https://sixdegrees.lnk.to/zpp-1

Thank you for all of your love & support.