Inmates request for pastoral training

Inmates of the Buea Central Prison are pleading with their Moderator to have some of them trained as Pastors at the PCC (Presbyterian Church of Cameroon)seminary in Kumba.

The inmates believe that if some of them are trained as Pastors, after serving their terms, they will come back to meet the spiritual needs of their colleagues in prison. The inmates, through Abel Awahntim, made the request at the Buea Central Prison on July 17, while receiving a donations of sewing equipment from the PCC Moderator.

The donation which consisted of five singer sewing machines, several meters of fabrics, thread, among other gifts, is aimed at boosting the tailoring workshop at the prison to equip prisoners with employable skills that will enable them to easily integrate into the society upon their release from jail.

The inmates equally requested the PCC to employ some of them, especially those who are parents and widows, to avoid frustration when they regain their freedoms. They also demanded for a liturgy and musical instruments to be used during Sunday service worship.

They thanked the Moderator for being the first ever PCC Moderator to visit inmates at the Buea Central Prison and said Asana’s stewardship has enhanced spiritual growth and accountability in the Church.

The PCC Moderator, Right Rev Dr Festus Ambe Asana, told the inmates that Christians of the PCC have decided to pay them a courtesy visit because they consider them to be useful to their families, the Church and the society at large.

He advised the detainees not to regard their imprisonment as the end of life, but as an opportunity to be reformed. According to Asana, most great leaders in the world have once been prisoners, but left the prisons even better than they went in.

The Moderator said his visit to the Buea Central Prison was an outcome of a discussion held with the prison officials and some delegates from the Ministry of Territorial Administration some two years back. In their discussion, the officials expressed the need to have prisoners trained in various fields like tailoring, carpentry, arts, among others, and solicited help from the Church to accomplish this goal.

“Today, we have come to fulfill our promise,” the Moderator stated, urging the inmates to make good use of the equipment. Earlier, in his welcome address, the Superintendent in charge of the Buea Central Prison, Thiery Joel Fopa, expressed gratitude to the Moderator for the donation, adding that it will not only keep the inmates busy, but equally help them to acquire skills. He pledged to take proper care of the equipment and to make sure that the inmates take the training seriously, so that upon their release, they will be able to put what they have learnt into practice.

In a prison of close to 792 inmates, 250 of them were Presbyterians, Fopa used the occasion to thank the Moderator and the PCC for appointing a Chaplain to cater for spiritual and material needs of the detainees.

The Superintendent, nonetheless, entreated other religious bodies to emulates this kind gesture. He also petitioned the Moderator to help them with the construction of a Church in the prison yard. This, Fopa said, will help to solve the problem of struggling to get a place at Sunday services.

Meanwhile, members of the Christian Women and Men Fellowship Associations that accompanied the Moderator to the Buea Central Prison also donated bags of rice, garri, vegetable oil, toiletries, bathing soap, cooked food and other items for the inmates.