Eradicating drug use through dialogue in Doornkorp
The initiative was held at the DoornKop Hall (Block 4) with the aim to bridge the gap and foster development.
Non-Profit Organisation Thuto Ke Lesedi in the Doornkop informal settlements will host a drug awareness program this June 16 aimed at eradicating the high levels of substance abuse in the community.
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The initiative which will be held at the DoornKop Hall (Block 4) will celebrate Youth Day aiming to bridge the gap and foster development targeted at the youth.
“We recently held an outreach programme at a local school where learning and teaching was not taking place because educators were constantly in fear due to high drug use within school premises.
“Learners even carry weapons, which was alarming to hear. We felt a strong urge to take action,” said founder Tebogo Maphanga.
Various stakeholders from the Department of Health, South African National Council on Alcoholism and Drugs (SANCA), Social Development and various organisations within Doornkop will form part of the campaign to educate, and provide tangible solutions and resources to drug users and the broader community affected by drug addiction.
Maphanga painted a bleak picture of the circumstances surrounding young people in her community saying the aim of the initiative was to bring much needed interventions to address the escalating challenges.
“We are from an informal settlement which often means less exposure and opportunities for our community.
Many young people are forced into crime and drugs because of the dire circumstances of poverty we live in. Families can barely make ends meet.
We have a lot of unemployed young people, teenage pregnancy, crime and rising school dropout rate.”
The 28-year-old founder also shared that the event hit home as she lost her brother to drug addiction adding that she hopes that through the initiative she would save a life.
She further called on the government to create implementable measures and satisfactory resolutions to address the problem citing that more work was needed on the ground.
“We hope that our partnership with SANCA will be able to admit some of the drug users into their centres on the day. I also hope that after rehabilitation we will be able to assist in their integration back into the community by empowering them with skills and expose them to job opportunities.
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We want to ensure that beyond June 16, young people in our community are linked to employment opportunities, and introduce them into business and entrepreneurial skills to sustain themselves.
That’s why as Thuto we are fighting to put an end to drug use before another young person with potential ends up like my late brother,” Concluded Maphanga.
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