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Writes Marlvin Ngiza
Non-profit making organisations gathered to commemorate the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking with a courtesy call to come up with and apply new nondiscriminatory approaches which provide the desired solutions and can safely reconnect drug addicts to society.
In his presentation, Project Kurarama Founder and Director, Daves Martin, said that there exists an unbalanced approach to drug and substance abuse in societies. An individual rather than the whole community approach is common hence the need for collective efforts from organisations and communities to make a paradigm shift and strategise towards a drug-free Zimbabwe.
“We are having an unbalanced approach from society on prevention, treatment, and maintenance of the problem. We are focused more on treating an addict in one way and mostly psychologically or psychiatrically. We are also focused on the individual instead of the universal community. We need to have a balanced approach.
“Here is the thing. A drug addict operates on a self-centered mindset, so as a community are we not doing the same. We all need to work together as a community to rebuild the ability of an addict to participate in the community which is a successful model. So what we are doing in our model is to look at how can addicts be treated successfully,” said Martin.
Team Rescue Mission vice chairperson Soraya Fahad underscored the significance of working together in expanding initiatives and impacting many people towards cracking down on the vice.
“Communication is very important. We cannot work in silence. It is very important for us to understand that different organisations bring different skills, talents, and ideas to the table, so it’s very important that we get together so that when we fight the vice, we will also be able to stand with the community.
“It is very important that the message is really put out there before even young people start engaging in drug and substance abuse,” said Fahad.
Young people-led movements also participated during this year’s commemorations with Young People Mental Health Trust having already activated several initiatives which include training learners and teachers to fight against the ill and equip them with resistance and resilience to drugs.
The organisation’s patron, Ben Rupondo, said that getting into schools was significant in establishing and having direct access to many youths.
“This event is a good initiative for a collective approach to dealing with the problem. As an organization, we are educating young people in schools on how to resist drugs and win against peer pressure.
“We have been approved and partnered with the Ministry of Education because we believe that the transition from primary to secondary level is usually characterised by drug abuse. We are providing psychological support, drug abuse awareness, sexual reproductive health, and mental health awareness. We have already launched our programme in two schools in Gweru towards our goal,” Rupondo said.
The International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is observed annually on June 25 and this year’s theme was “People First: stop stigma and Discrimination, strengthen prevention”.
The event was hosted by the Solutions to Addiction and Drug-Free Zimbabwe, a consortium of non-profit organizations led by the Pamumvuri PVO, Arcadia CHILD Trust, ICPA Zimbabwe, Meikles Foundation, Miracle Missions Vimba, Kurarama, Population Solution for Health among other organizations closely guided by The World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNoDC) and United Nations Information Center (UNIC).
Zimbabwe Civil Liberties and Drug Network 2021 statistics showed that 60 percent of psychiatric admissions were due to drug abuse, eighty percent of which were young people aged 16 to 25.