At the beginning of 2014, a Substance Abuse Program was initiated at Blompark Ikamva by the department of Social Development of Cape Town. The aim is to serve the community of Gansbaai. To this end, a social worker and auxiliary social worker were appointed.   The target group are people between the ages of  12 and 35 years, who are substance abusers. People outside these age brackets are however welcome to make use of the service. The program focuses on early intervention, but referrals are also done on a voluntary basis if people need rehabilitation.

The program focuses on: Awareness, Dangers of drug abuse, The effects on the body, Family therapy, Group sessions and communities.  Life skills training: About knowing yourself/self esteem, Decision making, How to handle peer pressure and Choosing your friends.

The programme is carried out by means of individual sessions, group sessions and family therapy. One of the many impacts of the high unemployment rate is a reduction in esteem and self-worth which in-turn often leads to substance abuse. In order to offset this effect, it has been found that skills development training and self-empowerment has a significant positive effect in uplifting the self-worth of the individual and enables them to be less dependent on others.

The lack of transport is just one of many problems being experienced which limit the effective rendering of service to clients.  The involvement and assistance of the role players in our community is crucial to the success of our programmes. We are truly grateful for their support.

Rialet Wood

Zoom

Zoom