Inmates in Ngoma Correctional Centre are being equipped with vocational skills that will benefit them once they are released. The centre, that exclusively accommodates women, is home to some Genocide convicts. The inmates are beneficiaries of a programme that focuses on rehabilitating the women. Convicted of involuntarily manslaughter, Amina Dusabe, 28, says the training will enable her live a better life once she completes her sentence. In 2006, Dusabe hit and killed her husband, the father of her two children. She had earlier complained about her husband’s violent behaviour but never quit. “I ended up becoming violent and taking my husband ‘s life. I was imprisoned for ten years,” Dusabe said. “I am now eight years into my sentence, and I can tell you from experience that prison is not a holiday camp. It is, however, not a curse. It is an institution that can transform a criminal into a better person,” she adds. She is currently responsible for training other inmates in Ngoma prisons facility. She says she gets happiness from supporting other inmates acquire life skills. Dusabe says that five years into her prison term, she started training inside the prison. “If I had this exposure when I was in the community, I wouldn’t be here now,” she said. “I used to spend the whole day waiting for my husband to bring food. The end result was fighting. Such was the hopeless life I lived,” she said. Chantale Uwantege, the Director of the prison, said in mates undergo training in sewing as well as cutting clothes using patterns. Uwantege said the initiative benefited the majority of inmates, adding that it will help them improve their lives once they served out their time.
