courtesy Matt
Addiction is a disease as serious and chronic as diabetes or asthma, but we as a society refuse to see those suffering from addiction as ill and in need of our help and compassion. It is easy to overlook the human that suffers when we have made up our mind that they brought it upon themselves. We forget that while the initial act of "getting" the disease is voluntary (individuals have to generally knowingly take the drug), once addiction sets in, - - the voluntariness is gone because the bodily functions of these individuals are altered by the addiction.
In most cases it is the feeling of unworthiness and the inability to handle inner abandonment that drives these unfortunate people to find a source for blocking out pain that ma be real or imagined. Sadly substance addictions do not fill that place within that needs love and compassion. For these ailing beings the first step to recovery is to create a loving and powerful inner adult self, capable of connecting with a spiritual source of love and compassion. In short recovery means a better way of life!
Helen Keller said that although the world is very full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.
Dost Welfare Foundation is a place where pain is met with compassion, fear is met with reassurance, and anger is met with understanding. . .From its humble start in 1992, Dr Parveen Azam Khan has seen her dream blossom into a full fledged detox and rehabilitation program, with ccommunity based centers providing continued support in Khazana, Dara, Parachinar, Dargay & Guandau. At its residential Therapeutic Community (TC), which has a capacity of 80 beds, and a staff of over 100, they have reached out with compassion and helped thousands. Their daily programs and duties, group discussions, seminars, lectures and work skills activities are designed to develop self-discipline and restore feelings of belonging and solidarity.
With negligible support from the government, some funding from ANF and Project Bait-ul-Mal and various NGO organizations Dost has become the only ray of light for those struggling to get out of the vicious cycle of drug abuse. Based on an eleven step recovery program that is spiritually based, and incorporates the following steps; Al Tanbeeh; The awakening, Al Muhasabah ; accountability, As Sabar and Shukur; patience and gratitude, Taubah and Istighafar; repentence, Zikir; remembrance and Duaa; supplication.
DOST’s core belief is that a supportive structure that communities can provide helps vulnerable individuals in society overcome the challenges, be it poverty, crime, inequality or deprivation of human rights. In areas with existing communities DOST facilitates their ability to reach and help these people such as in the Afghan refugee camps and in absence of such a community, DOST encourages and supports the creation of therapeutic self-help communities for vulnerable groups. Families are provided with information about drug use and recovery and are encouraged to participate in the client’s rehabilitation and reintegration into society. Vocational skill training is residential or community based, focusing on creating an economically sustainable future, and skill training is based upon individual need.
courtesy Matt
Dost's treatment and rehabilitation has been successful to some extent. According to one estimate, 56% of treated and rehabilitated hardened street heroin addicts (many of them over 10 years users) were still clean after 6 months. Their Relapse Prevention Program offers counseling 3 days a week. Setting up AA style groups they encourage clients and their families to return and stay healthy. Since July 1998, TCs have been established in the women's cell, and the juvenile barracks of Peshawar Central Jail to rehabilitate and reintegrate juveniles under detention. Over 1000 juvenile prisoners have joined these TCs, and 1300 have availed the legal aid services.
courtesy Matt
Special attention is paid to those on the streets who are more vulnerable to abuse and disease. Most drug addicts are treated as common criminals, but by stopping by at a Drop-in-center and completing a registration process they are issued a card. Once the police know they are trying to get help their attitude also changes.
Successful treatment is a client spending 6 months drug free after the end of treatment, but this is an arbitrary definition because many kick drugs entirely, but some will relapse after 6 months. However it should be noted that most of these addicts have spent every day for several years addicted to drugs, so even a few weeks drug free can be a significant breakthrough.
They show impressive figures, more than 6000 street drug users have been registered for drug reduction services from 2001 to 2005, 4500 addicts received residential treatment from 2000 - 2005. Successful rehabilitation of 4000 juvenile prisoners, 2000 women prisoners, 1500 drug addict prisoners is a great acheivement indeed.
Other areas of Dost's great work are
Prison Work
In 1998 a Therapeutic Community fwas established for male drug users in Peshawar Central Prison, to provide detox and rehab services to the drug users in the two Narcotics barracks. In May 2005 DOST's work in prisons was recognized by the UNODC as an example of effective partnership between an NGO and authorities in addressing issues faced by prisoners and prison authorities.
courtesy Matt
Juvenile Therapeutic Communities in Prisons
Juvenile prisoners are amongst the most vulnerable individuals in prisons. The Juvenile Therapeutic Community is based in Peshawar Central Prison and strives to help these vulnerable youngsters with basic necessities such as adequate food and shelter, health care and education. Many of the juveniles are charged with drug trafficking and minor charges; often this is a first offence. Most are innocent when detained, but unfortunately they are victims of abuse and exposed to criminal elements during their detention, unable to access or unaware of the legal help and justice that they are eligible for, they languish in jails. DOST has worked closely with the Prison and Police Authorities to address their needs.
“DOST is the only NGO I will welcome to this jail, we work together as partners….
…No prisoner who has been through DOST’s programme has returned to this prison.”
Mr Khalid Abbas – Peshawar Prison Superintendent
Women and Children in Conflict with the law
Women in prison are incarcerated on various charges, but most are victims of poverty, injustice, abuse and exploitation. The majority of these women are charged with drug trafficking and are often rejected by their family and so have nowhere to go on their release. Many of these women have their young children in the prison with them or arrive at the prison pregnant. For these children there are limited opportunities and they suffer from impeded physical, mental and social growth and development due to poor nutrition lack of health care, education and social interaction beyond the prison confines.
courtesy Matt
Women and Children Therapeutic Communities have been established in Peshawar and Haripur Central Prisons. A team of DOST professionals, in partnership with the prisoners, who run the Therapeutic Communities provide services based on the needs identified by the women themselves and include basic necessities such as cleaning materials, additional food, medical, health education and adult literacy and long-term goals such as vocational and life skills training. Dost also provides legal aid and advice. Without DOSTs assistance many of these women would have no access to the legal system nor would they have any understanding of their human or legal rights. On release the women are referred to Sakoon Kore so that they can continue to benefit from DOST’s support, where they receive follow-up and reintegration services.
Sakoon Kore assists its sustainability by producing needlework and handicrafts that are sold in Fairs and Conferences. They also market items made by the women in the prisons. The sale of these items enables the women to earn money and the profit is then reinvested into Sakoon Kore. This money is made available to the clients of the Center as loans for the establishment of their own business ventures.
courtesy Matt
For the children who are serving sentences with their mothers, DOST arranges for those of school age to attend schools outside the prison and for the younger ones a day-care service. The children are all provided with a simple meal for lunch by DOST. They act as a vital link for these people and their families, communities and the prison authorities; without this link many of them would be isolated and forgotten.
Street Children Program
Based at Sakoon Kore Center, the Street Children Programme, begun in 2003, addressing the needs of the children who are on the streets of Peshawar.
These children, some of whom are homeless, earn money as scavengers, making about R50/80 a day from collecting and selling recyclable junk from rubbish heaps and roadsides. These street children are exposed to exploitation, abuse and dangerous work conditions. DOST is working to provide them with key services such as non-formal education, social services, medical services and counselling for the individual and the family where appropriate.
DOST has already enabled 20 children to attend Government schools by providing them with uniforms and funds to cover other costs involved in attending school. DOST acknowledges that many of these children’s families rely on the money they earn and so DOST is considering ways in which to help the children develop small businesses that can be conducted outside school times.
Going into the future DOST expects a significant reduction in International Government support, with cut backs in the Dutch Embassy and DfID donations. DOST is working to develop more long term, sustainable partnerships and expect increased funding from government projects, increased UN funding and new long-term partnerships with International NGOs.
When you begin to touch your heart or let your heart be touched, you begin to discover that it's bottomless, that it doesn't have any resolution, that this heart is huge, vast, and limitless. You begin to discover how much warmth and gentleness is there, as well as how much space. (Pema Chodron)