INITIATIVES IN COUNTERACTING DRUG ABUSEMokeira Masita
Drug addiction is becoming a problem in Kenya, even though, as revealed in recent studies conducted by Population Communication Africa, the rate of addiction is not on a level with that of smoking and drinking. According to these studies, almost every Kenyan youngster at one time or another experiments with drugs, but especially with beer and cigarettes. Despite the fact that the rate of regular users of hardcore drugs is smaller than that of cigarette and alcohol users, there is a major cause for concern because a high proportion of these people eventually get addicted, posing a threat to their own health and safety and putting their family and friends into difficulties. The problem is multidimensional; it spans political, economic, geographical, social, legal, health and cultural spheres, and affects us all as parents, children, teachers, government officials, taxpayers and workers. On account of this addiction, quite a few people are getting drawn into a web of hopelessness that more often than not ends fatally. They range from glue-sniffing street children and teenage ecstasy users, to hardcore heroin and cocaine addicts. Drug abuse is responsible for lost wages, soaring health care costs and broken families. It is a reality in our country and for this reason various stakeholders are trying in one way or another to do something about the situation. The government, the churches, the international community and small independent groups are currently dedicating a sizeable amount of time and effort towards this cause. The National Agency for the Campaign Against Drug Abuse (NACADA), an organ of the Kenyan Government, has drawn up an action plan whose main areas of focus are public awareness, liaison activities and support services. It targets youth in and out of learning institutions. Developing programmes through the mass media, passing messages through public barazas, and incorporating drug preventive education in the education curriculum are some of the modes of fighting drug abuse that have been outlined in the action plan. The plans (that so far are only on paper) appear promising and one can only hope that the implementation phase will be carried out successfully. Some churches have also established anti-drug programmes. One such church is the Lavington United Church whose outreach ministry helps in training and teaching the dangers of drugs in schools, colleges and universities. The youth are taught to reach other youth through peer counseling. On an international level, there have been efforts over the years to curb the drug abuse problem. For example, the UN held a Special session held in June 1998 on the topic: Countering the World Drug Problem Together. It consisted of a political declaration by the member states on the drug problem, guiding principles of drug demand reduction, and measures to enhance international cooperation to counter the problem. On closer inspection WAJIBU found that the small independent initiatives that are trying to curb drug abuse are actually having a very positive impact. One of the reasons for this is that they cater for small groups and that their strategies are tailor made to fit the context of their target audience. Another reason is that many of those who are the pioneers in such initiatives have had personal experiences with the use and abuse of drugs, either themselves having been abusers or having lived with abusers who were very close to them. For this reason they have taken to this task wholeheartedly, knowing full well what is at stake. They are not like the rest of us who are on the outside looking in so to speak, but have actually been on the inside at one point in time and managed to get out. Why then not help those they left behind and the others who are in a similar situation? It is in view of these factors that Wanjeri Mahihu and her family began one such initiative known as Well-Being Services. Wanjeri, who is a psychologist by profession, started working with drug addicts and alcoholics back in 1990. "It is difficult to find help locally and addicts are subject to a lot of misunderstanding even from medical personnel," she observes. Wanjeri wanted to bridge this gap and she began with a little room in a Mombasa hotel where she carried out freelance therapy. She gave talks on drug abuse, worked with social workers and medical personnel, all of which she did in her free time as she had a full time job in the hospitality industry. She did this for a period of about five years after which she went to the UK to study for her second Masters. When she came back to Kenya she continued her practice and was later employed by the Wilson Foundation to start a treatment facility in Tigoni, which is now known as the Redhill Rehabilitation Center. Wanjeri then began her own practice in a smaller unit in Nairobi under the same principles. By June of this year she had the complete concept down on paper whereas the hands-on operation kicked off in September. Well-Being Services is a non-profit organization with an in- and outpatient treatment facility in Nairobi. The clinic is at Liaison House along State House Avenue. It is about creating awareness, prevention and treatment. Awareness creation is important because the drug situation as it stands now is serious. What everyone needs to realize is that drug abuse is a social phenomenon and not just chemical dependence. There are various reasons why people abuse drugs: lack of living skills, psychological problems, cultural influences, economic problems (poverty), genetic make-up, etc. It is important to note that drug and substance abuse actually fuel the spread of HIV/AIDS because it leads to promiscuity; insobriety and drunkenness. This results in new infections and so at some point you cannot separate the two: HIV/AIDS and drug abuse. Well Being Services has an awareness plan that seeks to explain what addiction is and to combat the myths surrounding drug addiction such as: it is a rich persons' disease, one must be immoral to abuse drugs, addicts can never get well, etc. They talk to school authorities because many of them deny that the problem exists in their school. Whenever they come across children who are abusing drugs their instant reaction is to expel them. This does not solve the problem because the child simply goes to another school and influences other students there. It is Wanjeri's belief that in every school, whether private, religious, or state, you will find one or two children who are chemically dependent. And those are just the ones who are at the critical stage; there are others who are abusing drugs. She says that when they go into schools they have often become partners with the anti-narcotics unit and are very blunt with their message. They tell their audiences exactly what drugs do; as far as possible they have people with them who share their real life testimonies. At Well Being Services they also take time to talk to parents; in fact, they talk to anyone who will take the time to listen. This is because the drug problem is crosscutting; any human being is susceptible to drug abuse and addiction. Many parents do not know what drugs look like, what the signs of addiction are, or what to do when they find their young ones abusing drugs. Their objective is to educate parents on these matters; they also urge them to be more receptive to their children: to allow their friends to visit them at home so that they can monitor what kind of friends their children have and the activities they engage in. On the other hand, they also caution parents not to be too liberal. Prevention comes before cure as far as Well Being Services is concerned and for this reason they are targeting children before they go into puberty (which can arrive as early as nine or ten years). Puberty can be a very confusing stage for the young and is a time when they may end up in the trap of drug use in order to cope. Here prevention comes up against lack of policy because the way things stand at the moment, an 11 year-old can buy alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, etc. What is needed is a law not allowing under age children to purchase intoxicating substances or drugs. This way we can protect our children. Apart from a lack of policy, the other obstacle that prevention programmes come across is drug trafficking. In Mombasa the drug problem is serious. Contrary to popular belief, drugs are not expensive; at Kshs 100/- or 200/- one can obtain a sachet of heroin. Street people are now using it. The dealers have gone as far as giving free samples at popular joints and schools to those they know are vulnerable. Once they get them addicted, they know they will have customers. The dealers need money and this is how they survive. Well-Being Services has a media plan as part of their prevention programme. They say that the importance of prevention cannot be overemphasized considering that drug use leads to crime. "If you do a little investigation you will find that most criminals are mood altered during the crime." According to Canadian data only about 20 percent of criminals in prison are seasoned criminals while the other 80 were under the influence of a mood altering drug during the crime. Wanjeri says. "If drug abuse can be brought down then the numbers in prisons will reduce and so will road carnage." Beyond drug abuse is chemical dependency, the point at which an individual can no longer live without drugs and will steal or kill just for a fix. The treatment that Well Being Services offers comes in at the point where the addicts cannot quit the habit without medical supervision. There are various types of treatment programs one of which is the relapse prevention treatment. Well-Being Services works at changing people's lives, ensuring that the cravings and desires for drugs go away. The process normally begins with friends or family who come inquiring as to what they should do for their loved one who is an addict. They are then asked to bring the person to the outpatient unit where an assessment is carried out. This usually goes hand in hand with much education because many do not know what the various treatments entail. The first thing the clinic does is to educate the patient about the disease so that they can learn to manage it better. Theirs is a wholistic treatment plan in which they treat every aspect of the disease: body, mind and soul. They offer both individual and group counseling and therapy. Also available at Well-Being Services are a life skills training programme, a nutritional programme (that encourages patients to eat foods that help the detoxication process) and a physical training programme for the purpose of stress management and deep relaxation. There is also spiritual therapy. This initiative is founded on God-centered therapy and accommodates everyone because the founders' concept of God is not derived from any particular religion. The treatment is non-medicinal in that even the detoxication process, which takes about four to seven days, is free from medicine that affects the central nervous system in any way. The families of the recovering addicts are not left out of the process but are allowed and encouraged to participate in the therapy on certain designated days. Others who have been through the process successfully and are in recovery also come in on certain days to support those who are trying to get into recovery. This is significant because the best advocate for recovery is actually someone who has been there. Once a patient has gone through the primary care programme, they take part in an extended care programme, which entails re-integrating the person into the community. There is follow-up to this and to the secondary phase whereby individuals come to the outpatients every now and then for counseling. The whole programme takes a minimum of 90 days both for out- and in- patient care and is highly confidential. The clinic networks with other treatment centers where necessary. The key principle for treatment at Well Being Services is complete abstinence from all mood-altering chemicals, including alcohol. The center has a capacity of 10-14 patients. The full time staff consists of two counselors, one assistant counselor, a cook and a housekeeper. A psychiatrist, a medical doctor, a nurse and a clergy person are on call. They are all multi-skilled and work as a team, basing their work on the 12 principles of Alcoholics Anonymous. They operate more like a family, united in spirit and purpose, and often hold group meetings, prayer meetings and meditation sessions. They are open to learning, to educating themselves and they engage in research. All this is necessary so that every professional is able to maintain his/her own sanity and health. Any new staff member in future should go through the whole treatment process one of the rationale being that by distigmatising yourself, you can distigmatise another. The ambience is very creative, colourful and artistic. They have a lovely garden where staff and patients can take walks and pick flowers. This atmosphere helps the patients and workers iron out sources of conflict when they are in an early stage. At the moment they are all volunteers except for the watchmen and the cook. This is not a permanent situation, however; they are looking for funds to remunerate their staff members. The center is non-profit but not free of charge: they do ask for a minimal fee. Well-Being Services has come across a number of constraints. Money is the first one. There are many people in need of their services but who simply cannot afford to pay even the minimal fee that they charge. Another is lack of data in terms of research on drug abuse and addiction. They have to borrow research findings from abroad, e.g. Canada, UK and South Africa, and then apply it locally. Materials for treatment also have to be imported e.g. manuals and drug testing kits and these are extremely expensive. Their services are also innovative and therefore it is difficult to get personnel who are already programmed or trained for this type of services. The professionals are there but the expertise base is minimal. However, Wanjeri and her team have chosen to turn the constraints into challenges. Another challenge is the myths surrounding drug addiction and the denial of the seriousness of the matter by the community. Because of this, they have to work hard at creating awareness. For the future, the founders of Well-Being Services prefer the treatment center to remain small because that way they can maintain quality of treatment. The kind of enlargement they are open to is that of eventually separating the secondary unit from the primary care one and perhaps to have a string of small units. They would like to one day have their own house for the center rather than to rent a place. Also in the pipeline is the effort to participate in grass root projects to combat drug dependency on the streets. The vision of the personalities behind Well Being Services is to make a change. Wanjeri says with conviction, "It is a hands-on task, we are not here to theorize but to act." For that reason, the people who are treated in the center are equipped not only to maintain their own recovery but also to carry the message to others. For more information or enquiries contact:
Wanjeri Mahihu
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