SELF recovery
You might have heard that there are government and private agencies that are into the treatment and rehabilitation of drug addicts – not killing them outright. We recently learned about a leading institution in drug rehabilitation – the Self Enhancement for Life Foundation (SELF), which helps not only drug addicts, but also gamblers and alcoholics and even those with behavioral disorders overcome their dependencies through a one-ofa-kind Therapeutic Community (TC) approach.
SELF was founded 25 years ago by Martin Infante, a former drug dependent himself and now a book author and advocate. The foundation’s rehabilitation compound in Tagaytay, called Taal Vista House, has facilities for its clients – for therapeutic individual and group counseling, seminars, a basketball court, a theater, an auditorium, sleeping quarters, among others. Residents or clients, if you may, range from 13 year olds to senior citizens.
At the Bulong Pulungan media forum at Sofitel Hotel, Infante, 62, who himself had gone through a long journey of healing, said, “It takes a lot of patience, perseverance and family support to wean an individual who has been into drugs for quite sometime. There are no immediate cues and no timeline that can be given. There are no short cuts. It is on a case-to-case basis.” The individual’s readiness for returning to his community depends on himself.
SELF’s Therapeutic Community approach is cited as one of the most effective behavior modification programs in the world. TC is founded on the Enlightenment Model of recovery, where individuals live together like a “community,” learn from each other, attend seminars with experienced therapy experts, share experiences, do household work, engage in sports activities like basketball and biking.
Infante said at SELF, not only the residents but their families as well undergo some healing. Every first Saturday of the month, parents come to Taal Vista House to share their frustrations and learn to stop blaming themselves for their loved one’s addiction.
A resident’s rehabilitation may take months, or even two years, depending on his/her readiness to be integrated into mainstream society. Eight out of ten of the “graduates,” Mila, a parent of an 18-year-old resident told me, successfully reenter the outside world.
Infante, who was into drugs at age 13 and went into rehab when he was in his mid-30s, said, “At SELF, spiritual development is part of the treatment. We cannot do it alone without divine intervention. Though we have fulltime medical staff, psychiatrist, psychologists and counselors, in the end it is Him we turn to for guidance in our actions.”
The monthly fee for each rehab resident is P50,000, but, according to Mila, “It’s well worth it. It feels good seeing our children abdicate addiction and live like happy, fulfilled individuals.”
SELF is training Department of Health personnel and giving lectures to schools as part of its advocacy in fighting drug abuse.
For information, call 0928-5525656 or Taal View House, (043)7730354.
* * * ERRATUM. So many readers have expressed interest in attending the Carolina Bamboo Garden seminars on growing and earning from bamboo propagation. Robert Natividad, a bamboo specialist at the University of the Philippines-Los Baños who is coordinating CBG owner Kay Jimenez’s seminars, points out that based on the 2015 Philippine Bamboo Industry Development Council report, the bamboo industry for 2012-2014 had an investment of P306.3 million, and P261.8 million in sales, and that jobs generated numbered 13,103. The local market demand for bamboo, says Robert, is estimated at P11 billion.
* * * The good news for children is that the government of Japan gives $6.2 million to UNICEF to support peacebuilding and education efforts for conflict-affected children of Mindanao, including children disengaged from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s (MILF) armed forces.
The program is aligned with the country’s peace process under the Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro led by the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP).
“Conflict affects multiple aspects of children’s development, including survival, gender equity, poverty reduction and access to education,” says UNICEF Philippine representative Lotta Sylwander.
Children living in fragile or conflictaffected countries are more than twice as likely to be malnourished, three times as likely to miss primary school and almost twice as likely to die before age five compared to children in developing countries.
The social and economic indicators in conflict-affected Mindanao especially in ARMM continue to be significantly lower than the rest of the country, continues Sylwander. While the Philippines has been enjoying several years of rapid economic growth, the situation of children in Mindanao remains alarming, with some of the indicators at the level comparable to least developed countries such as Sierra Leone and the Central African Republic (CAR). For example, only one out of every 10 students in ARMM who begin elementary education will graduate from secondary school.
“We are very happy to begin a close partnership with the Government of Japan. Japan has been a staunch supporter of the peace process and the economic and social development of conflict-affected Mindanao. We are one in our belief that children can only grow and develop to their full potential if they live in a peaceful society without armed conflict,” says Sylwander.
Japan Ambassador Kazuhide Ishikawa responds, saying, “We believe that
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