We're trekking 26 miles across the Peak District in one day to raise funds for the construction of a maternity ward and health centre at Gulu Prison in Uganda. But why would you want to help prisoners?!

Because freedom is complicated. It is not just a life without bars. Freedom is opportunity, the chance for a person to lay their own path, to thrive. In Uganda and many other countries (sometimes even in the UK), prison denies people freedom even upon their release. Young children are regularly imprisoned alongside their mothers. A baby girl may even be born in prison. It is unlikely she will receive much of an education in prison; she is thus released without the knowledge she needs to function in society, trapped in ignorance, possibly confined to a life of crime.

During his time in prison, a person may develop tuberculosis. If the prison has no medical facility the disease goes undiagnosed and untreated. Upon release, his condition is too bad for treatment. He will be unable to find a job, and may die. Prison even denies the innocent chance to prove him or herself: with no education and no library or chance to learn, many prisoners cannot defend themselves. In this way, the system therefore takes away a person’s freedom plus his or her chances. Freedom is complicated.

African Prisons Project was founded almost five years ago to restore dignity and hope among prisoners in Africa. By building libraries, constructing and refurbishing sickbays, maternity wards and children’s day care centres, supplying dietary supplements, and sponsoring welfare projects such as sports tournaments, APP works to create a truly rehabilitative prison system in Africa. By responding to the basic needs of prisoners, APP acts as a catalyst for change among prison authorities. At Luzira Prison in Kampala, after APP built an infirmary, the prison service added a laboratory to diagnose conditions; the death rate plummeted from 12 per month to 1.25 per month.

No other charity does the same kind of work. APP is constructing a healthcare centre at Gulu Prison in northern Uganda. The area is still recovering from a bloody civil war and has no hospital or maternity ward. APP’s healthcare centre will not only serve prisoners but also the prison staff, their families and the local community. The centre will cost £40,000. APP has already raised nearly £30,000 and construction has begun.

We’re hoping to raise £1,000 to go towards the Gulu project. So we’re walking 26 miles across the stunning Peak District on 11 July and asking friends, family and colleagues to sponsor us. We hope you’ll consider sponsoring us £1 per mile (or even 50p per mile), but a donation of any size really does help. If you know both of us, feel free to make two pledges! For more information about APP, see www.africanprisons.org or email adamsmith@africanprisons.org.