For more than a decade, Constance Zziwa has regularly visited prisons and juvenile detention centres, offering spiritual support, counselling and a listening ear to inmates who often have little support beyond the prison walls.
Zziwa, 45, of Southernwood in KuGompo City, who is a wife and mother of two, began volunteering in prison ministry in 2014.
She became involved at the Medium B prison in West Bank, where she provides spiritual counselling for inmates.
“I offer spiritual counselling and we have Bible school to empower them to have hope and purpose and a goal,” she said.
Her involvement started after she had been part of a community project called Building a City, where volunteers visited police stations and businesses to encourage workers before they started their day.
During one visit to a police station, an official mentioned the need for volunteers to support prisoners.
Zziwa said the appeal resonated with her because she had previously worked with a former prisoner and knew how difficult it could be to find basic support.
Equipped with a degree in counselling through Impact Bible College, she decided to offer her help.
“I said to myself, let me go and find out how I can be of help in the prison,” she said.
Over the years, she has also helped inmates graduate from Bible school.
Zziwa extended her ministry to a juvenile centre last year, visiting once a month to speak to young offenders and, more importantly, listen to them.
“We want to create a relationship with them, as an open space for them to speak,” she said.
“Some of them, their families are so mad at them, so when we go in there, we also want to be kind of family.”
She said she had noticed the impact the visits had.
“You see this young person starting to desire more in life: ‘I want to go back to school. I want to get out of here,’” she said.
Her community work also takes her into hospitals, where she visits patients to offer encouragement and prayer.
The work is personal for Zziwa, who was admitted to Frere Hospital three times in 2014 and 2015.
“Some of them just need hope,” she said.
Alongside her ministry work, Zziwa has spent the past 10 years helping unemployed people through Work 4 A Living, where she is a facilitator and centre co-ordinator in KuGompo City.
The NPO has about 44 centres operating across SA, providing skills training aimed at helping job seekers find employment, start businesses or pursue further studies.
“Our main aim is uplifting the unemployed, and our aim is to empower them with employable skills,” Zziwa said.
She also works with employers to connect trained candidates with job opportunities, with no placement fee charged to either employers or candidates.
Her motivation comes partly from having grown up with a single mother who ran a tavern to support the family and help her complete university.
“I saw how poverty affects a whole family, so my passion for the unemployed is from how I grew up,” Zziwa said.
“I get involved where there is a need.”
West Bank correctional services spiritual care manager, Rev Vusikhaya Mbaswana, said Zziwa’s work at the facility had supported inmates in their rehabilitation.
“Our business is to rehabilitate inmates, and they have helped a lot with moral regeneration,” Mbaswana said.
“Some of them even graduate from Bible studies, obtaining certificates and diplomas, which restores their hope.”
Nozipho Mbembe, of Duncan Village, said she nominated Zziwa for the Daily Dispatch Local Heroes Awards for her years of service to people in KuGompo City, saying her work in prisons, hospitals and skills development had made a difference in the community.
Originally from Uganda, Zziwa moved to SA in 2009, where she has made it her mission to help others.
“She has dedicated her life to uplifting the people of this city,” Mbembe said.
“She has been a pillar of strength and a consistent contributor to our society.
“She equips the youth and job seekers with essential skills to secure employment.”
She hopes the nomination will not only recognise Zziwa’s work but also help her find partners and funders to expand her work, as well as Work 4 A Living’s.
