Taking on drug abuse
Md. Hafijur Rahman from Bangladesh shares his story after attending the Commonwealth Asia Regional Workshop on ‘Drugs and Substance Abuse’
It is amazing how a single workshop can affect and change the way you work on an issue! I realised this after I attended the Commonwealth Asia Regional Workshop on ‘Drugs and Substance Abuse’ held in Brunei Darussalam, this March. After the workshop, I am working with much greater zeal towards my goals. I am so eager to implement all the new ideas that I was bombarded with during the workshop. All thanks to the knowledgeable and experienced resource persons, I got a chance to interact with.
My organisation is involved in loads of activities like awareness programmes on drugs, HIV/AIDS, adolescence, etc. but right now our focus is more on the challenge of drug abuse. I’m now especially creating mass awareness on this enormous problem faced by our society.
This month we are going to train around 50 middle-level police officers on the issue of drug abuse. This is because we believe that the police in Bangladesh is lately becoming very active on the issue and are recovering the drugs from various places.
We are also creating awareness amongst the citizens in Chittagong (Bangladesh) wherever the police stations conduct their open-house. It is so heartening to see the police and the Department of Narcotics Control rendering full help to us in whatever way possible. In fact, in April this year, Director-General of Narcotics Control visited my city and attended a seminar on the issue along with the school teachers. This programme was organised with the support of my organisation.
Recently, we have taken an initiative named ‘Koishor Moncha‘(Adolescent Stage). The plan is to select five boys and five girls from class VI-X from some schools. These students would be given a proper life-skills training by imparting knowledge about adolescence, gender issues, drug abuse, HIV/AIDS. We'll also create a student forum named ‘Koishor Moncho’ in the schools. These students would then create programmes, take necessary actions, communicate with the other students as well as the society. They would be able to take decisions, talk on different issues with the local administration as well as with local people. The young people would also create more activities through peer approach.
With all these efforts and much more, I hope that my dream of a drugs-free Bangladesh would one day be realised. I also, invite you to join me and contribute in whichever way possible to the cause. Also, feel free to suggest more actions and programmes that can be implemented to achieve our goal.
Md. Hafijur Rahman is the Director (Admin & Programme), Sirajul Islam Patwary Foundation (SIPF), Chittagong, Bangladesh. He can be contacted at hafijctg@gmail.com.