THIKA - ALCOHOL & DRUGS PROJECT

ALCOHOLICS AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE PROGRAM 

(Thika Rehabilitation Home)

Goal

Providing psychosocial support to the affected and the victims of alcohol and substance abuse with an aim of reducing stigma and rehabilitating them back into society

Preamble

Alcohol and drug abuse has become an acute and growing problem in Kenya. Research shows that the scourge is affecting the most productive age between 18 and 45 years with a predilection toward the male more than the female. The social economic impact of this trend is devastating touching the economic, the social and the health sphere of society.

Families have particularly been hit hard by the scourge. Research shows that alcohol and drug abuse (ADA) is the leading cause of family breakdown. By affecting men more than women, ADA is disrupting traditional gender roles, increasing the percentage of female headed households. Women have to shoulder full responsibility for families, becoming the main providers of financial, social and emotional stability of the family in the absence of the father. This has compounded the problem by removing the father figure from the boy child during their formative years. The boys are growing without role models and are more likely to become alcohol and substance abusers themselves. According to NACADA, children whose father use alcohol are 2.7 times more likely to have consumed alcohol than if their fathers do not use alcohol (Nacada 2011).

ADA  impinges  greatly  on  the family  income  and  at  advanced  stages  causes  increased levels  of  tension  and  economic  dependency  leading  to poverty and loss of opportunities for growth and advancement of both the victim and his/her family. Research by NACADA shows that ADA has a direct correlation to domestic violence and divorce (Nacada, 2011)

By targeting the youth, it leads to increasing levels of unemployability, health and educational challenges, loss of productivity, insecurity and loss of investor confidence among other things.  

Excessive drinking accounts for substantial cognitive impairment, many of them irreversible (Brown & Tapert, 2004). According to Barlow (2000), alcohol is a threat to family life and to harmonious interpersonal relations. Alcohol is linked to crime, broken homes, poor workmanship, unemployment, and a host of other social and moral evils. Many alcoholics experience notable contrasting changes of the ‘downhill’ career (NACADA 2011).

The causes of alcohol and substance abuse have been identified as idleness, peer pressure and lack of parental guidance and pressure to succeed for youth in Nairobi.

There is therefore a need for a concerted effort to deal with this issue. The church has been identified as the institution most looked up to for social, spiritual and emotional well being of society. It therefore has a responsibility and a unique call to focus on and set up programs to ameliorate the consequences of alcohol and drug abuse, especially on the family unit.

Although the church has been grappling with the problems that result from ADA by offering personal spiritual and emotional counseling to those affected, it has done immensely well in bringing awareness and spiritual direction in the crisis. Thika rehabilitation home is now partnering churches, mosques and organized groups to facilitate a  holistic approach in order to sustainably deal with the various aspects of the problem.

Thika rehabilitation home is a level 3 treatment facility for substance and behavioral addictions. We are involved in outreach, treatment and aftercare and therefore uniquely placed to bring together churches, agencies and volunteers in a network that is able to offer a holistic approach to the multifaceted problems emanating from alcohol and substance abuse. 

Specific objectives

1.      Build a network of churches, agencies and volunteers specifically focused on the issue of ADA

2.      Reach out and offer support to victims of alcohol and substance abuse in Thika Kiandutu and nearby slums.

3.      Reduce stigma and provide a platform for sharing to the affected (families and friends) and victims of alcohol and substance abuse through awareness building and provision of information in churches and other forums available

4.       Provide opportunity for volunteers to reach out to those affected and the victims of alcohol and substance abuse to hasten their rehabilitation and integration back into society

Activities

1.      Carry out outreach activities in Juja, Witeithie, Thika environs, Kiandutu, Makongeni area, to victims of alcoholand substance abuse

2.      Provide professional help to the victims of alcohol and substance abuse in target areas.

3.      Provide personal development and life skills training to victims of alcohol and substance abuse.

4.      Identify victims of alcohol and substance abuse who are ready for admission into a rehabilitation center and support them financially where necessary

5.      Carry out an awareness campaign in churches in Thika, witeithie, Juja, through talks and provision of brochures and posters

Target areas

Thika town, Makongeni, Juja, and environs

Partners

·         Churches in target area 

·          Public administration Kenya police 

·         Kenya police 

·       Volunteers

In the long term we plan to establish a Drop in centre at Thika,  for persons with substance use dependency.

Mobile: 0702103841/ 0738317630 | www.psychosocial.co.ke | Face book page: www.facebook.com/rehab.home | twitter : @ThikaRehab | 

Stress of living with an addict

ADDICTION 

The stress of living with addiction can have harmful physical, emotional, social, and spiritual consequences. It is normal for family members and friends of alcoholics and addicts to feel confused, frustrated, angry, and helpless.

Family sessions which we hold every two weeks after first month of rehab helps to alleviate confusion and anxiety and promote healing by identifying how addiction affects your family and what you and other family members can do to take care of yourselves.
What to expect during family session; you will learn that you can’t control your loved one’s addiction, but you can take responsibility for your own health and happiness. The Family is an educational experience that involves presentations by staff, group discussions, personal goal-setting by affected individual, and reflection,

Are you in a situation where you know your family needs to assist an addicted member but for some reason you have not yet come to settle on it?  Very often people procrastinate, hoping that somewhere along the line things will just fall in place.  Unfortunately, in most cases this never takes place.

On the other hand, the individual usually believes their case is too complicated to be adequately addressed.  That may be true for some. Addiction is compounded by obsessive compulsive and lack of control for the user, making it hard for it to "just fall in place" without comprehensive abstinence strategies.

website: www.psychosocial.co.ke; twitter:@ThikaRehab,  facebook page: www.facebook.com./rehab.home,  

www.psychosocial.co.ke