Drugs-free movement declares war
Lesang Maswabi | Tuesday August 1, 2023 06:00
With the same energy and vigour that the scourge is ravaging the youth, Tumelo Sengawane and indeed as his name Tumelo translates to Faith in the English vernacular, is truly convinced that his fight against drug and alcohol abuse, is and will continue to bear fruit.
A former victim himself, the 35-year-old Gaborone-raised lad is running a movement that is called Drug-Free Is The New Cool (DFITNC) formerly known as Drugs Are Not Cool (DANC). DFITNC, which is registered under the Societies Act was formed in 2017 with its main aim of fighting the drug and alcohol menace. “We engage in not only treatment but also in the prevention of substance abuse. At the same time, we also stage corporate wellness days,” says Sengawane who is the executive director of DFITNC and a Recovery Support Professional (RSP) of substance use.
Asked to further define the role of RSPs, Sengawane says, “We drive a recovery support programme which serves as proof that it offers help to recovering drug addicts. We have since been doing this in collaboration with the Botswana Association for Addiction Professionals (BAAP) and the International Society of Substance Use Professionals (ISSUP) which is global and offers online courses.” Besides their above-mentioned activities which are mainly targeted at drug users themselves, Sengawane’s movement also offers training to the families of users. He says, “this is important so the families know what they are dealing with, especially on the lingo within the illicit trade."
His movement has fiercely targeted not only the users but the marauding drug peddlers and drug lords as well. He says, “We have particularly started at primary, junior secondary students and after-school leavers. Our initial community education was at Bokamoso and Morama secondary schools in Jwaneng. "Our drug-free walk footprints and demonstrations are countrywide as we have not only concentrated in the major cities of Gaborone and Francistown but also in the Selebi-Phikwe, Maun, and Lobatse towns and Molepolole, Kanye, Palapye, Mahalapye villages."
As part of their proof of achievements and successes, DFITNC has had testimonies from respective victims as recovering drug users and their burdened families. This alone has given the much-needed hope and faith to the affected and would-be victims that indeed the war against the plague can be won. For why they settled on the name Drug-Free Is The New Cool (DFITNC), Sengawane says, “We chose this specific appellation since we first realised that most users, as I was in the past, had been motivated by the use of television and cinema actors and celebrities who had falsely depicted the use of drugs as cool to the unsuspecting, vulnerable, and gullible youth.”
His work would not have been easy had it been without the support from various corporate bodies, electronic and print media houses and institutions like Gaborone Institute of Professionals Studies (GIPS), Cresta Hotels groups, Segarona foundation, Coca-Cola, NTT Nissan Maun, Hope pageants and Botswana Public Officers Medical Aid (BPOMAS), Bothakga Burrow to mention but a few. These organisations have offered help ranging from monetary to in-kind assistance like accommodation, transport, and food and beverages. To further drive their message they have also created and launched pages across various media platforms. To show commitment to their course, Sengawane says, “I’ve actually formally dedicated this undertaking as a full-time vocation."
Asked why it would seem DFTNC are mostly active in the lower-income vicinities, the likes of Bontleng, Mogoditshane, Old and New Naledi as against to the plush and leafy suburbs of Phakalane, Sentlhane, and Notwane, Setlhoa, and Universal Estates and Lenganeng, Sengawane decries of current lack of resources as their disadvantage. “Funds and various resources permitting we shall soon be arriving at those high-class destinations as it is believed that some of the kingpins and drug-lord are hiding behind those high screen walls popularly known as stop-nonsense(s).”
True to the popular stance and mission that DFTNC has become, its founder Sengawane had just arrived for this interview from another one at government’s Botswana Television (Btv). And in the middle of our interview, he would receive yet another request to be interviewed by a Seventh-Day Adventist church radio based in South Africa. During that interview, he mentioned that as part of the June 26th International Day Against Drug Abuse and Trafficking, his organisation’s main activities on the day were to highlight the messages through interventions and doing group therapies that help with sustained recoveries.
As with the ever challenges and some disappointments that often come with the difficult terrains they regularly travel, Sengawane says they have indeed experienced relapses from some of the victims. “Some have tried to sustain their resolve and failed many times, but that has not dampened our spirits as we have always had Relapse Management Plans (RMPs) in place,” he said. He says the other drawback that they face is losing their counsellors to other similar moneyed organisations with deep pockets.
As a culmination from this interview, DFTNC had organised a sporting event in Molepolole in the form of a soccer tournament which proved to be a major crowd puller of their main target, which is the younger generation ranging from the schoolgoing to the newly employed and income earning youth.
Sengawane’s legacy he says, “Is to promote and leave a drug-free culture." He says he wants to spread a message that, “A drug-free society can still have good fun and healthier recreation."