adminThere are issues that one would expect people to encounter and possibly grapple with later in life, challenges that have been associated with certain age groups.
However, when it comes to social ills, that template of expectations may not always fit in with every situation. It is quite difficult to picture retirement before the age of 34, isn’t it?
However, in the case of Jacob Shamuyarira, who started drinking alcohol at the age of 14 at a boarding school, he has walked the drug abuse road, seen it all and is now retired — referred to as a former drug addict.
The journey into the murky waters of drug abuse started with a small sip of alcohol and gradually the conduct led him into taking drugs.
“I had my first experience during sports day at school with my friends and I enjoyed the feeling of being drunk. We would hide the alcohol in dark bottles, to avoid being caught,” said Jacob.
“The behaviour grew until I started using drugs as simple as mbanje. From that, it scaled to drugs such as cocaine, crack, ecstasy and I used cringes to intoxicate myself. All this occurred when my parents were not around,” he narrated.
“What made me even more comfortable with drinking at school was that I would share a drink with one of my teachers,” he said.
Jacob is among the lucky ones to survive drug abuse but states that in the final three years before he gave up drugs he almost died. It would appear absentee parenting was another major factor that led to substance, alcohol and drug abuse among the youth.
Many parents and guardians have little time for parenting their children as they are always busy working from morning until late while some homes are child-headed as the parents are in the diaspora or no more.
In some families, children are looked after by their guardians, who, in some instances, give less attention to them.
Children with absent parents are more likely to fall into drug addiction or consume alcohol before reaching the legal age. By not having someone nearby to guide them, they begin to be responsible for their own freedom.
As a result, they don’t always use it properly. In a drug awareness seminar, held by Pamumvuri Non-Governmental Organisation, Youth Network Connect and Arcadia C.H.I.L.D Trust, Dumoluhle Ngwenya, one of the attendees, said parents would never fully understand what was happening in their children’s lives.
“Most of our children need parental advice so that they engage with the right group of friends. Yet this is impossible because we lose so much of our time at work, not to mention parents in the diaspora,” said Ngwenya.
The loneliness and lack of advice has created major problems, leading to youths resorting to dangerous drugs common in Bulawayo such as crystal meth, heroine and dagga, ecstasy, to mention a few.
A clinical psychologist at Ingutsheni Central Hospital, Tafara Munyuni, said one of the most visible and most common side effects of drugs in a person were drug-induced seizures.
“If one has seizures, they may be hospitalised at a mental centre such as Ingutsheni Central Hospital, and they are prescribed anti-psychotic tablets which stabilise them temporarily,” said Munyuni.
“Sadly, patients who are prescribed these tablets, eventually abuse them and use them as an intoxicant,” he added.
However, the issue of drug abuse may be wrongly focused as the community centres on the victims and users, leaving behind the drug peddlers, who are the reason behind this chaotic situation.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Bulawayo has made numerous arrests on drug abusers and peddlers but it is clear that the drug pit is still teeming with peddlers.
Speaking at the awareness seminar last weekend, a CID officer said a variety of drugs were quite cheap on the market.
“A small sachet of drugs costs only a dollar around Bulawayo. These drugs are also given unique names so that the police will not come across them,” said the officer.
With the growth of drug use in Bulawayo, there are more discoveries of cheaper substances used to intoxicate or make the users “high”. It is against this background that the war against drugs will be long drawn and multi-pronged.
The detective said apart from drugs and cough syrups that they use, simple baby diapers or sanitary pads were used as intoxicants as they contain sodium polyacrylate or water lock, chemicals that are capable of making them high. Nontokozo Dabengwa, founder of Ayanda Foundation Trust said parents and guardians should be on the lookout for their children.
“Children of this century are very sensitive hence, they need all the advice and support they can get, so that they can manage themselves into being better youths,” said Dabengwa.
Dabengwa added: “Reaching out to a child when they are sad, stressed or anxious, will give them a sense of belonging at home. “Parents should make time for their children in order to take note of any unusual behaviour.”
During the seminar, youths spoke out on the issue of parents being absent.
“When parents and guardians are not close to us, we conclude that it is on us to take care of ourselves.
In instances where we need parental guidance and we don’t find any, we resort to other substances that will make us feel better at that moment,” said Talent Mdlongwa. Drug awareness seminars and campaigns, may be held, but charity begins at home. Parents have to educate their children on the dangers of taking drugs and how they can support them if they fall into the death trap of drug abuse.
Even the recent spate of bullying and violence at Bulawayo has partly been blamed on modern parenting styles, largely absentee parenting and school authorities appealed to parents to play their part in moulding the behaviour of their children. In support of stopping drug abuse in Bulawayo, parents and elders of Romney Park on Wednesday held an anti-drug awareness campaign as they marched from Romney Park to Paddonhurst on Wednesday. Organiser of the campaign and member on the Romney Park community, Mercy Magwaza, said she organised the march after realising there was growing drug abuse and behavioural changes in youths around the neighbourhood. “Youths from my neighbourhood can be drunk or high as early as 8am. I see some of them lying half-dead on the floor of the shops, showing signs of being high in drugs,” said Magwaza.
“To make matters worse, some vendors from around the neighbourhood sell illicit alcohol called njengu to youths in disguise. Parents cannot mention them to the police for fear of the consequences,” said Magwaza. It could be a small step but one that shows that the Bulawayo community, and indeed the country, is taking steps to ensure we put a stop to the scourge of drug abuse.
mbulelo smpofu
