• Drug addicts are shunned by society, which 'will not allow us to touch their things'
• Reachout Centre Trust started a beauty programme that reforms and trains them to be self-reliant
In Mombasa county, where at least 10,000 individuals are heroin addicts, women contribute a significant proportion of about 2,000.
At Reachout Centre Trust in Old Town, they find solace in a rehabilitation programme that helps them ditch the habit while also giving them skills in a barber shop and saloon: the Beauty Corner.
Staff member Hawa Said says addicts have it rough as they are considered as criminals and seen as outcasts within their society. Most are kicked out.
“Drug addiction is not a crime. Society should be trained to take care of those who have gone into drug and substance abuse,” Said says.
Reachout is an anti-drugs organisation in Mombasa’s Old Town that has been in operation for 15 years.
The centre has at least 3,000 recovering drug addicts under two programmes: the Rehabilitation programme and the Medically Assisted Treatment programme.
Under MAT, the recovering drug addicts are given a daily dose of methadone to kill the heroin addiction. Methadone gives a feeling similar to heroin but keeps the addict from having withdrawal symptoms and cravings. It has to be taken daily for about two years to kill drug addiction completely.
At Reachout's main offices in Old Town, the organisation set up a Beauty Corner for the addicts who are on their recovering programme.
Women are more susceptible to transit from single-day drug abuse to daily drug dependence and addiction, and that at a faster rate compared to men, according to experts.
Harvard Medical School says the differences in addiction between men and women is around susceptibility, recovery and risk of relapse.
Women are also more likely to suffer substance abuse side-effects and overdose, and more likely to experience intense cravings and relapse.
Most female drug addicts have been forced to do menial jobs, or even work as prostitutes, to fend for themselves and their children.
A NEW BEGINNING
Reachout executive director Taib Abdulrahman says they give addicts a second lease on life.
“The Beauty Corner project enables male and female drug users under recovery to build self-esteem and get beauty therapy skills, like pedicure, manicure, among other beauty services," he says.
These skills will lead them to initiate their own income-generating projects.
“When we started, we had a few women in our programmes, but since then, we have seen the number increasing sharply,” Abdulrahman says.
He says the centre's female personnel were the brains behind the setting up of the beauty programme last year.
“The women staff in our organisation thought this would be an excellent programme for the ladies, where they can make their hair, nails and facial as they talk their issues,” he says.
At least 30 women, who are recovering addicts, have been absorbed into the beauty programme and trained on beauty. They are also the peer educators.
Every Wednesday, they meet during their weekly programme to catch up, undergo counselling, and generally talk about their stuff.
“The recovering drug addicts have a programme: Wednesday Crash, where they come to do their hair, get manicure and pedicure and facial beauty,” he says.
Another 70 female addicts come to the centre for beauty therapy and counselling, bringing the total number of women involved to 100.
“We wanted to expand the programme, but due to corona, we had to wait first. But we are looking into expanding it to attract more women who are on drugs,” Abdurahman says.
Reachout has partnered with Rizfar Beauty College to train the women on beauty.
“They are now being trained professionally on beauty so they may be able to open up their own saloons or even get employed after fully recovering,” Abdurahman says.
Recovering female drug addicts who have children come with them to the centre. There is a special area adjacent to the saloon for them to play at, one which the organisation plans to expand.
We are seen as thieves or criminals, but that is not the truth. We are asking the society to bring us close to them because we need empathy.Recovering addict Debora Ebole
FEEL-GOOD FACTOR
Elizabeth Sarah, who used to abuse drugs for five years, is one of the women under the centre's drug recovery programme. She is being trained on beauty as she undergoes the drug rehabilitation programme.
“I’m a recovering drug addict. I have been in this programme for three years now. I would like to urge society not to look down on us,” she says.
She says the Beauty Corner “has given the women a good reason to feel good”.
Her friend, Debora Ebole, who abused drugs for about two decades, says she started using drugs after she felt she was not loved by her family.
“I got into drugs for lack of love. I was initiated into this by a friend. I thought I’d found love among the addicts, which was the case, but I was slowly wasting away,” she says.
Ebole says she tried to get out of substance abuse but it was not possible. “Without knowing, I had already spent 20 years abusing drugs,” she says.
She says she is happy Reachout gave them another chance in life. “Women here are given free training on beauty. We are given the opportunity to try out our skills. Out there, no one will allow you to touch their things,” she says.
“We are seen as thieves or criminals, but that is not the truth. We are asking the society to bring us close to them because we need empathy.”
WELFARE CATERED FOR
Abdulrahman says the 30 women the centre started with get monthly stipends to sustain them. “Apart from training other women on beauty, they are also our peer educators,” he says.
Susan Wambui is one of the peer educators. She used to smoke heroin for about 15 years.
Wambui, 38, stopped using drugs after contracting tuberculosis. “Reachout peer educators used to come to our dens, but I did not stop smoking heroin, until the day I became very sick. I was taken to hospital and the doctors said I had contracted TB. I had to stop.”
She joined the MAT programme, using methadone to kill the heroin cravings.
“Before then, I used to stay in the drug den with my children. I used to ‘go out’ with men to make ends meet, but now I’m a peer educator with Reachout,” she says.
As the world was marking International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on June 26, the Beauty Corner at Reachout Centre received beauty products from Mvita MP Abdulswamad Nassir.
The theme for the 2020 edition of the drugs day was, “Better Knowledge for Better Care”.
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, this year’s theme emphasises the need to improve the understanding of the world's drug problem and how, in turn, better knowledge will foster greater international cooperation for countering its impact on health.
Reachout says its programmes have been designed to enlighten the public and government agencies to better understand the impact of drugs in order to understand recovering drug addicts.
Apart from the beauty programme, the centre has a daily feeding programme for the drug addicts, male and female
"Every day during lunch hour, the recovering and active drug users come to our centre, whereby they are given food. During this time, we are also able to counsel them," Abdulrahman says.
Edited by T Jalio