“If care and love are extended to addiction patients, hope other than despair, courage other than fearfulness, development other than underdevelopment prevails”
This question raises some moral imperative: It’s easy to point a finger to the victims of addiction when the acknowledgement that it is a sickness escapes human understanding. Just like any other sickness, addictions to drugs, alcohol and sex kills and has potential of wiping an entire generation if not responded to adequately and quickly contained. Studies suggest that substance abuse is connected to many health issues such as lung or heart disease, mental illness, lowered immune system and cancer. There is also strong evidence that alcohol consumption can lead to various types of cancer, with most being a form of oral, liver, and colon cancer. That illicit drugs increase cancer risk which is a potential cause of premature death.
There is no shortage of effects of addiction on crime, violence, lack of peace in families leading to disintegration of families, unemployment or underemployment, loss of lives, loss of opportunities leading to missed opportunities, decline in effective demand and consumption of goods and services, mental illness, spread of HIV/AIDs and other Sexual Transmitted Diseases and loss of productive human labor force.
But the good news is, if care and love are extended to addiction patients, hope other than despair, courage other than fearfulness, development other than underdevelopment prevails.
The questions we should not ask ourselves are: if I help the addictions patients, what shall the benefit be to me? If I help the addiction patients, what is the benefit of their recovery and participation in community development to me? Do I have sufficient resources to support addiction patients?
We can ask these questions and give some moral and spiritual analysis and response to them: if either individually or in a group, if I/We do not consider helping the addiction patients, what would happen to them?
Mandated to “Develop the Capacity of the Youth and Support their Psychosocial Growth and Development towards national development through two intervention areas: Purpose-Skill Development and Support, Positive and Addiction Free Living, we believe responding to the underlying moral and spiritual questions is desirable and possible through partnerships. Purpose Rwanda on day to day basis ensures it is part and parcel in making some noble contribution in poverty eradication through its mission for shared vision, value and destiny.
Together we can build a Purposeful and Addiction Free Generation
