Having a dream is better than any drug
WHEN Chatsworth anti-drugs campaigner Sam Pillay began his fight against drugs more than a decade ago, his aim was to give children a dream.
Drugs, he says, steered the youth away from their dreams.
“I want every child to understand that there’s hope, no matter what your circumstances. I want them to know that they can have a dream and that social conditions do not stop them from achieving their dream,” said Pillay.
He is on the verge of taking his successful school-based Smart Club anti-drug programme around the province, and the goal is that next year it will go national.
Having a sustained antimessage throughout the year at schools, he said, would reinforce the message that drugs can kill.
“Drugs have caused serious problems in our communities. Drug dealers are selling right outside schools, addicts steal from their own homes to support their habit, and family members even get assaulted,” Pillay said.
His Anti-Drug Forum, started the Smart Club a few years ago. It operates at dozens of schools, mostly in the greater Chatsworth area.
“Sugars, now known as whoonga, was the main problem back then, and still is. We aim to stop children using gateway drugs and getting into sugars, or whoonga.”
Whoonga is a heroin-based drug. Pillay said it was called sugars initially and packaged in short straws, but then dealers started putting it in gelatine capsules and called it whoonga. It originated in Chatsworth as sugars and landed up as whoonga in neighbouring townships such as uMlazi and Lamontville.
“The reality is that there will most likely always be dealers and producers who will think of new ways to market drugs. And there will be police who make huge drug busts, but the conviction rate is very low. Targeting the dealers is not the best way. We empower children not to use drugs, then there will be no demand.”
Once a year he co-ordinates a placard demonstration at schools which run the Smart Club programme. Children make anti-drugs placards and stand with them outside their schools.
“The children make these posters at home, and in doing so, they start a conversation with their families. In this way we spread the message. My aim is that every school in the country runs the programme and stands outside their respective schools on a specific date and takes a stand.”
The clubs at schools are run by pupils who create activities to spread awareness about the dangers of using drugs.
“We do not offer a onceoff activity, or a once-off speech where children will get bored. We sustain the message throughout the year. The clubs are now at primary schools because the age for experimenting is getting younger and younger,” he said.
“We empower pupils not just about drugs, but about having goals and dreams which leave no room for drugs,” he said.