Meeting Dr Kim….and the Farm Prison

We visited Dr Kim who is working at a prison which is also a farm. Dr Kim is from South Korea and there is a very interesting agriculture and prison joint venture between the Malawi Prison Service and a Korean charitable organisation called ‘Crops of Love’.

I had heard about Dr Kim and was keen to meet him. What I knew was that he was from Korea and was working in some way in ‘prisons work’. So when Rev Stanley Chimesya and Rev Ed Hoekstra invited me on their trip to see him I jumped at the chance. I thought (wrongly) that we were just going to meet him for a 20 minute chat somewhere close to where he is based. I did know that we had a reasonable drive to make as the prison is in near Thyolo.

On departure Ruth pleaded with me “I want to go with daddy!”

The reverends were very happy for her to come along and I thought that it would help Amelia who has a tough job keeping track of Ruth while occupied with David.

A quick transfer of the child seat followed and we were off. It was good again to see Mulanje Mountain in the distance – what an impressive sight.
We arrived at the prison (not an office as I had expected) with a nice view of a river flowing past and beyond some new school buildings. “Those were built with money raised from the sale of crops” is something like what I thought Rev Chimesya said.

Anyway, the place itself looked good. It is an ‘open prison’ in our terminology. The sort of prison that no one escapes from – after all, the prisoners here are close to the end of their sentence.

Dr Kim explained that they are using modern farming methods and are giving the prisoners on the job training for an alternative to crime. They have 100 acres but elsewhere they have far more. Dr Kim is helping the prison service to improve their agricultural efficiency.

It was interesting to hear that the Malawi Prison Service and the Justice Ministry are very open to help and co-operation. It is typically Malawian for them to be welcoming and to view joint projects with outsiders as helpful. I asked if I could take photos and was told that I certainly could. The prison officers were there as I photographed Ruth listening to a solar powered radio and Dr Kim informed me that it is fine to put them on the internet.

We learned that Crops of Love are a Korean Christian charity – not government funded. I asked if it a presbyterian charity and was told that no, it is inter-denominational although Dr Kim is a presbyterian himself. We discovered also that Dr Kim studied at the same seminary in Philadelphia, USA and at the same time as my brother Keith. I think with a little jolt of the memory they will remember each other.
What happened next was undoubtedly the highlight of the trip. We saw all of the prisoners half run, half march past us through a door marked ‘Clinic’. I soon realised there was more in that building than the clinic. We entered through a side door marked ‘Malawi Seoul Church’ and I asked if it was a play on words.

Inside I then realised we were to have a meeting. Now, those prisoners can sing. Sometimes football fans discuss what stadiums have a good atmosphere – this place had a great atmosphere. Even Ruth seemed taken by the feeling – and she takes many things in her stride.

Ed Hoekstra and Rev Chimesya both spoke and I was introduced. Ed then got on the keyboard and taught the prisoners a song. That went down very well. There was something in it they responded to quite strongly. We were also treated to a lengthy bible verse recital by one of the prisoners and a performance by a prison choir. Interestingly the whole prison was present at this meeting – not just those who chose to attend a CCAP meeting. It was clear that the prisoners were not shy about taking part in such ‘religious activities’ – it did not look as though they had to endure any banter for it.

Afterwards we went to Dr Kim’s house to discuss various things and I was very impressed with what the Koreans and Malawians are doing together. As I understand it there is a great deal of agricultural potential in Malawi. On the long road back to Blantyre Ed talked about how Malawi had changed him. Malawi has a lot to give – come and see for yourself.