South Coast Correctional Centre's bongo-playing Intensive Learning Centre teacher, Allan Chidziva, is passionate about helping inmates achieve basic literacy and numeracy skills so they can go on to do further educational courses.
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The 46-year-old was born in a remote village in Zimbabwe and spent five years in the Australian Defence Force working as an educator within the School of Military Engineering before making the move to Corrective Services NSW [CSNSW] in 2014.
"When I started at CSNSW it felt so rewarding - I felt I was making more of a difference here, helping people to get to a level where they can function within the community," Allan says.
Allan is among 10,000 Corrective Services NSW staff celebrated on National Corrections Day, Friday 21 January, for his commitment to community safety and reducing reoffending.
"I was born into a different society, economy and country. I'm a beneficiary of people who've been very good to me so I just always think that I have to give back," he says.
"I have that sort of passion here, not just to be a teacher but to be a role model because I know some of the guys here have had a difficult upbringing.
"Being able to play my role and give them what little I can, to inspire them through my story about how I grew up - I love it and it's one of the most satisfying things in my job."
CSNSW uses project-based learning to improve offender wellbeing by helping them asses their lifestyle and learn financial literacy.
"Some of the guys want to drive a $100,000 car, and you ask them: 'What do you offer society to be rewarded with that?'," he says.
"There are a lot of programs aimed at help people with their offending behaviours or their ability to actually look after themselves and their families.
"We're not just locking people up and not doing anything - a lot is happening in terms of helping people to get back on to their feet and actually contributing to the community."
Allan's commitment to helping people isn't confined to prison walls - this year he has also enlisted his colleagues' help to support 21 girls from his childhood village stay in school by sponsoring their education.
"Once a girl leaves school in Zimbabwe there's nothing to do so that's why you get child marriages and people getting trafficked. It's important to me to ensure the girls in the village have a better start in life," he says.
The 2022 National Corrections Day theme is 'giving back', which focuses on how our staff go beyond the call of duty to protect the community, mentor staff, fundraise for important charities and contribute to vital community projects and partnerships.
CSNSW includes about 5,000 custodial officers, 1,800 community corrections staff, 800 industries workers, 900 psychologists and programs officers and 1,100 security and intelligence staff.
