Bringing The Truth About Drugs to Tanzania’s Youth
How one man who suffered the deep personal loss of a close family member at the hands of drug abuse is waking up the youth of his nation to the truth so they can halt the problem.
Tanzania is home to 51 million people as the largest country in East Africa. It is also one of Africa’s premier tourist destinations and home to a burgeoning drug scene. According to estimates by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, of the more than 500,000 heroin users in East Africa, nearly 60 percent live in Tanzania.
While heroin might be the most used, it certainly isn’t the only drug affecting Tanzania. Hamisi Ndosho says that in his fishing village of Tanga, cocaine was introduced in 2010, and his nephew was one of the unlucky ones who got hooked and died soon thereafter.
Ndosho believes that ignorance is the prime reason people like his nephew fall prey to drugs, and feels he must now prevent this tragedy from happening to others.
Ndosho tells of students so impacted by The Truth About Drugs that they create their own drug-free clubs. He also wants these materials to be translated into Swahili.
“The best solution to the drug problem begins with education,” he says. That is why immediately upon discovering The Truth About Drugs campaign online, it just naturally struck a chord with Ndosho and he began putting it to use in Tanzanian schools.
“The program gets a huge response, especially among youth whose friends and family use drugs,” he says. “[These are] excellent materials that can be used by people in any corner of the world.”
Ndosho tells of students so impacted by The Truth About Drugs that they create their own drug-free clubs. He also wants these materials to be translated into Swahili in order to share the booklets with drug abusers who usually have dropped out of school and speak little English. In response, Ndosho has organized a translation of the entire program.
While he continues his work in schools, Ndosho is planning a Truth About Drugs seminar for international organizations who have offices in Tanzania because the drug problem is not just epidemic here, it must be curbed everywhere. Ndosho says that as long as there is drug abuse, you will find him bringing the truth about it to all people.
FACTS
THE LATEST GATEWAY DRUGS ARE LEGAL
Graduating from prescription drug abuse to heroin, the modern addiction trend.
1 IN 15
INDIVIDUALS
who take nonmedical prescription painkillers will try heroin within 10 years.
680,000
AMERICANS
used heroin in 2013, nearly double the figure in 2007.
26 MILLION
PEOPLE
abuse opioids worldwide.
A 50%
DROP IN PRICE
for heroin since the 1980s makes it more accessible to the average American.
16,651
PEOPLE DIED
overdosing on opioid painkillers in the US in 2010, more than 3X the number two decades ago.
WE NEED YOUR HELP
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