Foundation fights against substance abuse in Diepkloof
The organisation saw the gap saw a gap and need to help local drug addicts with the relevant paperwork required for admission into rehabilitation.
The Pelican Light Foundation continued spreading hope and support in their recent initiative against substance abuse at the Diepkloof Welfare Centre.
The initiative aimed to help those affected by substance abuse and hosted 134 young people, young and old, from the area by allowing them to rewrite their life stories and educate them about the consequences of using drugs.
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According to the founder of Pelican Light Foundation, Daniel Boshomane, they saw a gap and need to help local drug addicts with the relevant paperwork required for admission into rehabilitation, working closely with local social workers.
“With their consent, what we do is, after they have completed the necessary paperwork, we drive them to a rehabilitation centre for them to start the process.
“After completion, we engage them in community service to keep them occupied.
“So far, we have helped about nine people who were previously addicted to drugs, and it warms our hearts knowing we can make a difference,” Boshomane said.
He added that all residents are directly and indirectly affected by drug use. Since starting this initiative, they noted that the most common causes of drug addiction, especially amongst young people, are child-headed households, a lack of family balance, positive role models and the intervention of law enforcement.
“As much as we have poured our hearts into assisting, we face various challenges like the addicts running away from rehabilitation after we enrolled them.
“We had three unsuccessful cases where we assisted them in getting into rehab, but they returned to addiction.
“From the programme’s start, we make it known that the journey will not be easy and that they must persevere to get positive results.
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“We know our communities are angry because of the property loss and damage they endure from the work of drug addicts, but we plead with them to accept the former drug addicts with warm hearts after they have completed their rehabilitation and offer them support because it is easy to start using these drugs but never easy to quit.
“It takes a village to raise a child, and together, we can fight the effects of these lethal substances.”
