On Friday, 25 September 2026, a message of hope entered the gates of Lusaka Women’s Correctional Facility in Chimbokaila, carried not only through words of encouragement and prayer, but through the presence of people willing to listen, give and remind women living within the facility that their circumstances do not diminish their dignity or their capacity for a different future.
Led by St. Columba’s Church Prison Ministry and supported by the ZimWorX GoodWorx Grant and congregational contributions, the outreach deployed US$900 in cash resources to provide practical assistance, spiritual encouragement and a sense of community to 51 women, three expectant mothers and five children under two.
At the centre of the visit was a simple but powerful message, “Keeping Hope Alive, For Nothing is Impossible with God.” It was a message rooted in faith, but also in the understanding that hope can be especially important for people navigating difficult and uncertain circumstances. For the women at Chimbokaila, the day offered a reminder that their present circumstances are not necessarily the final chapter of their lives.
Compassion That Takes Shape
The GoodWorx outreach was guided by four principles, restoration, compassion, hope and dignity, and those principles were reflected in both the practical support provided and the decision to be physically present with the women.
Care packages included sanitary products, hygiene supplies, clothing, food items and other everyday essentials, while expectant mothers and young children received additional support in the form of specialised mother and baby care packs. Developmental toys and books were also provided for the children, alongside food staples for the facility kitchen.
While such items may appear simple, they can make a meaningful difference in environments where access to everyday necessities is not always guaranteed. More importantly, the thought behind the packages communicated something that goes beyond the value of the items themselves, that the people receiving them were seen, their needs had been considered and their dignity mattered.That spirit of care was central to the outreach and reflected a broader understanding of what meaningful giving can look like. Support does not always have to be measured by the size of a financial contribution. Sometimes, it is expressed through time, presence, compassion and the willingness to serve.
A Community Coming Together
Eight ZimWorX team members attended the visit, bringing with them not only resources but the opportunity to participate directly in the work being supported. Among them was Grace Ndhlovu, a GoodWorx Grant recipient, whose involvement illustrated one of the important ideas behind the GoodWorx initiative, that when individuals with a commitment to community service are given the resources to pursue meaningful ideas, those resources can become tangible interventions that reach people who need them.
The partnership between ZimWorX, St. Columba’s Church Prison Ministry and the congregation therefore extended beyond a simple donor-recipient relationship. It became a collective effort, bringing together funding, material support, faith and human connection around a shared commitment to care.
Hope as an Act of Service
The spiritual component of the visit was equally important. Through prayer and a message focused on keeping hope alive, the Prison Ministry sought to encourage the women to look beyond the limitations of their current circumstances and hold on to the possibility of renewal. Hope can mean different things to different people. For someone in prison, it may mean believing that a difficult chapter does not have to define the rest of their life. For a mother, it may mean holding on to the possibility of a better future for her children. For someone facing uncertainty, it may simply mean finding the strength to believe that tomorrow can look different from today.
The outreach created space for those possibilities, grounding its message of hope in both faith and practical action.
Caring for Mothers and Children
The presence of five children under the age of two added another dimension to the outreach. Their inclusion meant that the initiative had to look beyond the immediate needs of the women and recognise the needs of young children growing up within a correctional environment. The provision of developmental toys, books and baby care supplies was therefore more than an additional component of the donation. It reflected an understanding that children should continue to experience care, stimulation and dignity regardless of the circumstances surrounding them.
The specialised mother and baby care packs likewise recognised the particular needs of expectant and new mothers, ensuring that the outreach responded to the different experiences of those within the facility rather than treating the community as a single, uniform group. In doing so, the initiative demonstrated that compassionate outreach begins with paying attention, to who is present, what they need and what might make their circumstances a little more manageable.
The GoodWorx Difference
The Lusaka outreach also offered a glimpse into what community-focused philanthropy can achieve when financial support is connected to people who are already committed to doing the work. Through the GoodWorx Grant, ZimWorX helped provide the resources needed to turn an intention to serve into a practical intervention. The grant was complemented by contributions from the St. Columba’s congregation and material donations, creating a wider network of support around the initiative. The result was not simply a transfer of money or goods, but an opportunity for people to come together around a shared purpose. This is part of what makes stories like this meaningful for The51.
The numbers provide one way of understanding the reach of the initiative, 51 women, three expectant mothers and five children were supported, while US$900 in cash resources was deployed alongside additional material donations. But numbers cannot fully capture the impact of an afternoon spent reminding someone that they have not been forgotten. That there is value in receiving a package prepared with your needs in mind, that there is value in being listened to, prayed for and encouraged and in seeing people step beyond the walls of an institution and make the effort to meet you where you are. These moments may not be easily measured, but they are an important part of what dignity looks like in practice.
No single outreach can address every challenge faced by women in correctional facilities, and no donation can replace the longer-term work required to support rehabilitation, families and successful reintegration into society. But meaningful change does not always begin by trying to solve everything at once. Sometimes it begins with recognising one need and choosing to respond to it.For the women and children at Lusaka Women’s Correctional Facility, that response came through a partnership between St. Columba’s Church Prison Ministry, its congregation and ZimWorX’s GoodWorx initiative.