Testimony of a former drug addict

Despite his disadvantaged background, Solomon Mugisha, a graduate of Iwawa Rehabilitation and Vocation Skills Development Centre, on Iwawa Island in Rutsiro District, has a desire to make a positive impact on society.He was one of the students who graduated recently during the centre’s third graduation ceremony. Over 700 students graduated with various technical skills. Having successfully overcome his drug addiction, and completed the course, Mugisha looks forward to undertake mechanical engineering studies at Kicukiro Technical College (ETO Kicukiro). Mugisha, 24, dropped out of school in Senior Five due to drug addiction thereby cutting short his childhood ambition of becoming a civil engineer, which he has now revived.“Obviously, no family member or close friend wants to see you stumble through life in a cloud of pot smoke. I have done it and messed up my relationships before and that is why I am determined to help as many addicts as possible,” he said.Mugisha has taken the campaign against drug abuse to a higher level and is fully determined to personally try as much as possible to prevent anyone from encountering a similar predicament at the time he consumed illicit drugs.He claims to be in the best position to help those still struggling to quit drugs, saying that they can draw courage from him.The third born in a family of six says that his habit was very difficult for his family to accept.“As a result, my relationships, even at school, suffered because I would always avoid a situation where I knew I could not find drugs,” he recalls.But Mugisha says that having finally quit the vice, he has eventually forgiven himself saying the proper childhood he missed has paved way for a deserved better future. For him, the best is yet to come.“There is no experiment I have not tried with drugs, but now what remains important is to debate or discuss any of the effects of drug abuse and the benefits of quitting,” he says.Mugisha is among the founder members of the recently created Anti Drug Association Rwanda (ADAR) comprised of mainly former street children who completed their rehabilitation at Iwawa.Currently, he is also engaged with the Faith Foundation, a local NGO which supports primary school children in Kinigi Sector, Musanze District.Whenever he finds time, Mugisha holds regular counselling sessions with the children supported by the foundation to disseminate vital information about drug abuse and its consequences.“I perceive this as a substantial way of enabling young children to adapt to a sustainable way of avoiding drug abuse, especially amongst the youth, the country’s future leaders,” he observes.Statistics show that 52 percent of youths aged between 11 and 35 years have tried illicit drugs, especially marijuana, with 7.5 percent ending up becoming addicted.Results from a study conducted last year indicate that patients admitted for mental health complications had increased over the years due to uncontrolled consumption of illicit drugs.

National

Testimony of a former drug addict