Young Zimbabweans ditch drugs for performing arts

Canada Goose Jackets HARARE, March 12 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) Jimmy Gata, 19, recites an anti drugs poem at in the Park in Zimbabwe capital Harare, jumping and gesturing on the stage, as spectators clap and cheer on the former addict. Canada Goose Jackets

canada goose store Before finding his passion for the spoken word, Gata regularly took BronCleer, a cough syrup often smuggled in canada goose store from South Africa that contains codeine, a painkiller similar to morphine. If enough is drunk, it also intoxicates like alcohol. canada goose store

Ngoma Yorira uk canada goose Theatre Association took me in to learn about film making and acting and poetry, I have had no time for (BronCleer), said Gata, a trained motor mechanic.

There are no accurate figures on the Canada Goose Coats On Sale number of drug users in Zimbabwe. The Ministry of Health and Child Care says about 3,000 people nationwide are suffering mental illness directly related to drug abuse.

For 19 uk canada goose outlet year old canada goose coats Innocent Ndaramashe, an emerging R and hip hop music star who was addicted to substances like BronCleer, the performing arts came to his rescue just canada goose in time.

Canada Goose sale music canadian goose jacket encourages my peers not to consume drugs because they damage our Canada Goose Online health, Ndaramashe told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. a young man who has been taking drugs, I decided to preach against the https://www.getcanadagooseoutlet.com abuse of drugs through my music career. Canada Goose sale

canada goose clearance sale In a country where many people struggle to earn a living in the informal economy, the theatre association has also helped out the poor and hungry. canada goose clearance sale

canada goose black friday sale gives food parcels, groceries to the needy in my community of which I am also a beneficiary because I am very old, said 73 year old Tambudzai Mlambo, a resident of Mbare township in Harare. canada goose black friday sale

canada goose coats STATE SUPPORT As Zimbabwe battles drug abuse made worse by a buy canada goose jacket shortage of jobs for young people, the government acknowledges the canada goose clearance sale contribution of the community arts scene. canada goose coats

canada goose deals that have of late emerged have helped to keep former drug addicts focused on theatre canada goose clearance or art. This diverts their attention from drugs to concentrate on something new and positive for their wellbeing, said Dorcas Sithole, deputy director of the Ministry canada goose black friday sale of Health mental health department. canada goose deals

The state is doing what it can to fight drug abuse in canada canada goose outlet goose coats on sale tough circumstances, she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

buy canada goose jacket are trying to prevent drug users buy canada goose jacket cheap from turning Canada Goose Parka into addicts, she said, explaining how the government puts them on withdrawal programmes in hospital and is also planning to open rehabilitation centres. buy canada goose jacket

buy canada goose jacket cheap In addition, anti drugs activists say there is a need for occupational therapy such as theatre, which also helps young people build their self esteem. buy canada goose jacket cheap

canada goose coats on sale talent provides an avenue for accomplishment as opposed to helplessness which is associated with the onset of drug use, said Hilton Nyamukapa, programme coordinator for the Zimbabwe Civil Liberties and Drug Network. canada goose coats on sale

Established seven years ago, the national network advocates for strategies to address problems linked to drug use in Zimbabwe and across Southern Africa.

COMMUNITY CARE A pioneer of the idea of using theatre to tackle drug problems, cheap Canada Goose Ernest Nyatanga, founder and president of the Ngoma Yorira Theatre Association, said his organisation pays former addicts for their acting.

canada goose former drug users for their performances in theatre helps to motivate them and cultivate in them a desire to work for themselves, he told Thomson Reuters canada goose uk outlet Foundation. canada goose

cheap Canada Goose Recently the association shot canada goose uk shop films highlighting social Canada Goose Jackets and economic issues facing the country, such as Delinquent which depicts a misled young man who takes drugs while in school. The films are shown at Harare in The Park cheap Canada Goose

Canada Goose Outlet Nyatanga canada goose factory sale said the association donates canada goose uk black friday some of the proceeds from its performances which it stages Canada Goose online in townships in remote cheap canada goose uk areas too to local orphanages and poor widows. Canada Goose Outlet

Canada Goose online And it has helped feed people going hungry when Canada Goose Outlet drought hit food supplies in rural and urban areas. Canada Goose online

It also recruits community members to sell recordings of theatre productions on a commission basis by the roadside.

canadian goose jacket are an association that lives amongst ordinary people, and we care for their needs, Nyatanga said. canadian goose jacket

canada goose clearance So far, the theatre association has helped more than 340 individuals change their lives for the better, 30 percent of whom were hooked on Canada Goose sale drugs, he said. canada goose clearance

Parents like Linda Masarira, 36, whose 18 year old son was an addict but has now resumed his secondary school studies, are grateful for its work.

is a miracle my son is reforming; he is now an upcoming hip hop star while he is also into theatre and as a result he has. stopped using drugs, Masarira said.

FAITH AND FOOTBALL Community religious groups like the Christian Youths Fellowship Association (CYFA) based in Chegutu, a farming town 100 km (62 miles) west of Harare in Mashonaland West Province, have also joined the fight against drugs.

Patrick Imbayago, founder and director of the CYFA, said his group has shown anti drugs films in urban and rural townships.

seeing these kinds of films, few would return to drug abuse because. drug abusers are shown as eventually losing their marbles, going mad, he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.