A SCOTTISH law student has freed dozens of people from Malawi’s jails after visiting the country as a schoolgirl.
Lauren Strain says she has not counted the number of prisoners she has helped secure bail from the overcrowded facilities, but the teacher who first took her to the country estimates it could be as many as 50.
Cases include those of domestic violence victims and a boy who spent seven years awaiting trial after being wrongfully accused of taking part in a murder.
The youth was taken into custody after answering the door to police looking for his father.
In one shocking case, a mother was charged with murder after her abusive husband suffered a fatal heart attack while beating her.
Strain, 21, has been visiting Malawi for five years, since her first trip as a pupil at St Margaret’s High School in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, as part of its ongoing efforts to relieve poverty.
Her efforts are inspired by the work of Franciscan Catholic nun Sister Anna Tommasi, whose work to help thousands of Malawians eat, work and exit the prison system is documented in a book that was published by the school two years ago.
Strain, who also sponsors individuals, says her experience visiting inmates was a “major part” of her reason for embarking on a law course at Glasgow University.
Now the fourth-year student is eyeing a return to Malawi with current and former St Margaret’s pupils and teachers. They include Carleen Friel, who edited Sister Anna’s book and credits the Malawi work with setting her on course for a journalism career; teacher Amy Papiransky, who held music therapy sessions with her violin; and English teacher Andrew McKay, who drives the project.
From left, Lauren Strain, English teacher Andy McKay, journalism student Carleen Friel and music teacher Amy Papiransky
Fundraising for the annual trip has already begun.
McKay told The National: “Lauren is very modest, but what she has done is amazing.
“It’s not very common for schools to visit the prisons. We go there and hand out bars of soap and toothpaste to help the prisoners, because they have nothing.
“We’ve done things like provide bunk beds, because as well as giving prisoners somewhere to sleep, it also puts a limit on how many people can be in that cell. We’ve seen rooms where young boys have to sleep standing up.
“There is a lot of corruption and people are arrested on charges like witchcraft. It can take years for a case to come to trial and if you can’t afford bail, you are stuck there.
“Lauren has been able to go in and sit with people and go through their paperwork and actually help them get bail. That is huge. It could be 40, 50 people now.”
Some of the women prisoners Strain has aided have had young children with them, including one woman whose son was born after she was wrongly accused of murder. Strain said: “She wasn’t anywhere near the village at the time and there was evidence to prove it. Her son spent the first year of his life in jail and after they were released he got to celebrate his first birthday outside.”
Another case led to a presidential pardon for a woman who had gone on hunger strike in protest at her incarceration and prison conditions.
Meanwhile, one prisoner arrested as a young boy fell to his knees and cried when Strain paid bail to release him from seven years awaiting trial for a murder committed by his father.
She said: “I said go and get your stuff, but he didn’t have anything, he didn’t even have any clothes. We had to get him some so that he could go outside.”
She added: “I didn’t go to Malawi because I thought it looked good, I’m not there for my CV, it’s not about white Westerners going in to make themselves look good. I care about poverty and equality, I believe in fighting for people – Sister Anna is my hero.
“I didn’t think I’d become so obsessed by it, but Malawi becomes your life. The people you sponsor become family. People say ‘this is amazing’. No it’s not, it should just be human nature.”
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