BIRRO saves former drug addict
Katlego Isaacs | Wednesday April 20, 2022 15:48
Having freshly graduated as valedictorian in sound technology from Limkokwing University in 2020 with prospects to become a big name in the local entertainment industry, Tau’s future seemed promisingly bright right out of school.
However, while in school, Tau learnt that the entertainment industry is a brutally competitive, fast-paced, and sleepless industry that often needs some form of coping mechanism in order to survive.
“Due to the nature of my course, and just studying sound engineering, you’ll find that a lot of people who are in that field of entertainment mostly deal with substances or are addicted to substances to cope with the environment”, he said.
Tau said his journey to addiction started among school peers as alcohol and cigarettes, it slowly progressed its way into regular marijuana use, until Tau found himself snared by the grasp of harder drugs such as cocaine and heroin.
Battered by his unsuccessful attempts to break his way into the entertainment industry, Tau found himself increasingly desperate for short-term relief from the stress of constant defeat. This translated into more consistent drug use to the point where his addiction found itself clashing with his finances.
The clash led Tau to sell the sound equipment he had relied on to shoot him into the entertainment industry to feed his growing drug addiction, further exaggerating his desperation.
As his desperation grew so did his alienation from friends and family until Tau realised he had a problem influenced by the people around him.
“I was mostly around such types of [drug] users in school before I graduated, so by the time I finished school and I was valedictorian, I found that now before I could even get a job my addiction was holding me back,” he said.
“When I realised I had a problem I went across the country searching around for somewhere that could help me, then I happened to stumble on BIRRO on Facebook and I called their number.
I spoke to the president of the organisation and told him my story, and he said that he has a programme tailor made for people like me,” Tau recollected.
Not wasting a second, Tau applied for the BIRRO boot camp programmed in May 2021 and spent the following 10 months being extensively rehabilitated in the organisation’s rehabilitation facility in Bokaa.
“I went through probably the longest rehabilitation period of anyone who had ever been to the boot camp, but I felt great about it.
They kept me active and away from bad influences, to the point where when it was time to leave, I really couldn’t. I came back and asked them if I could volunteer for them and bring in more people in need and they let me. I’ve been here ever since,” Tao said.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, BIRRO director Mothei Sejakgomo said that BIRRO has seen impressive recovery results over the past year, indicating the effectiveness of rehabilitation. “From May 2021, we had 275 students involved in our boot camp Bokaa, 105 of which showed fruitful results while others are still on the path to recovery. We will be moving to Morwa and Mosadi Tshwene to better cater to the needs of recovering addicts.” Sejakgomo stated.
“We encourage parents to let their substance abusing children that are still schooling to come for these boot camps as we have measures to allow students to continue their studies while they recover with us,” he advised.
“Our main mandate is to help addicts, and to send a message that it is possible to live a happy and sober lifestyle, even when surrounded by these substances,” he added.
Sejakgomo’s focus on the mandate of the organisation is aimed at the youth like Tau to keep their noses clean and away from the dangers of addictions. However, the organisation remains committed to rehabilitating former convicts back into society as functional and productive members. He urged the public to offer former convicts a second chance to reintegrate into society to avoid them slipping back into the same habits they had before.