Drug rehab organisation set for launch
CONCERN at seeing a friend’s teenage son go to waste on drugs led a school teacher to join hands with a former narcotics police officer to come up with an organisation aimed at curbing drug abuse.
The entity, Rechabites, has been operating for close to two years, giving community talks, engaging schools, football clubs and assisting individuals recover from addiction but will only be officially launched this Friday at the National Gallery in Bulawayo.
Zenzo Siwela, a teacher at a private school in the city teamed up with Mthandazo Ndlovu, a former police officer in the Narcotics section to create the entity after seeing a gap in the drug rehabilitation sector in the city. He said seeing his son’s friend struggling to shake off drugs gave him the resolve to act on drug abuse.
“It was a sad sight while at the same time we were struggling with what we can do about it. The question was where can we turn to for professional help but after looking around we didn’t find any and the boy struggled as he overcame the addiction.
“Quitting drugs is difficult even under professional guidanc, what more when you are struggling on your own? Even with support from relatives it may be hard because of lack of that professional knowledge that might be needed to curb the addiction,” said Siwela.
Rechabites has so far teamed up with Zifa to give a talk to footballers on drugs and they have also done an engagement with Highlanders FC and attended an event organised by Grassroots and also worked with churches.
Siwela said they had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education hence they have given talks at schools that include Msitheli, Inyathi and Northlea.
Ndlovu said they are hoping to come up with a halfway house as they are struggling to assist individuals recover from drugs when they would still be exposed to the same narcotics.
He said although they have been using a sona at a local gym it would be ideal to come up with their own.
“A sona is critical in the rehabilitation of someone who is addicted as they can sweat out the drugs from their system, ensuring a relapse is unlikely to take place. We have not secured a place yet for our own rehab centre but we hope this will become a reality soon.
“The majority of the abused drugs include marijuana, cough syrups and alcohol. We now have a problem with school children because they are taking these drugs from a tender age,” said Ndlovu.
Siwela said they felt the current situation which results in some addicts ending up at Ingutsheni Hospital was untenable as they would only be put on anti-depressants and stimulants.
Some of those drugs have found their way into the black market and are being used by some people to get high.