Pastors join the anti-substance abuse war
Pini Bothoko | Monday June 20, 2016 15:15
The three-day workshop, which ended on Friday, was meant to sensitise pastors on the impact of alcohol and drug abuse in the society. The workshop was held at Botswana Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) in Francistown and attracted pastors from different churches.
Registered in 1998 as a Non-Governmental Organisation, BOCAIP was initiated by the Christian community in order to contribute to the fight against HIV/AIDS through a Christian approach.
In an interview with The Monitor, BOCAIP’s alcohol prevention psychologist, Gofaone Motlhobogwa said substance and alcohol dependency have reached critical levels in Francistown, which was why it was necessary to come up with such training. The use of alcohol and drug abuse is reported to be on the rise, something that is linked with the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Recently during the commemoration of the Month of Youth against AIDS (MYaA) it was revealed that Francistown is one of the most hard-hit areas in Botswana with an HIV/AIDS prevalence rate of 23.1% as per the 2013 BAIS report.
Motlhobogwa stated that this forced them to enlist pastors to help fight alcohol and drug abuse, as they are the crowd-pullers.
“Pastors are the most respected community leaders that people listen to and have faith in better than everyone. Partnering with them to combat this problem we are hopeful that their involvement will bring in good results,” said Motlhobogwa.
Doing a presentation of substance abuse BOCAIP counsellor on drug and alcohol abuse, Kolobetso Kgangkenna, said alcohol and drug abuse have been pointed out as some of the high social harms in the country. She said this is because today’s society seems to have accepted that there is no problem with people consuming alcohol.
Kgangkenna stated that drugs and alcohol abuse have become a developmental problem and it is on the rise, needing immediate attention. She said high cases of divorce, road accidents, suicide and mental disorders are common ills associated with alcohol and drug abuse. “It is of concern that Batswana have developed a culture of intoxication. You can even hear people boasting about it. World Health Organisation (WHO) once reported that Botswana has a high number of heavy drinkers,” said Kgangkenna adding that following the overwhelming reports of alcohol and drug abuse government introduced the alcohol levy.
Kgangkenna said it is reported that the health of people on HIV treatment is not improving due to alcohol and drug abuse.
“It is reported that 60% of HIV/AIDS patients fail to adhere to treatment despite government’s efforts to aim for zero HIV/AIDS infection because of high dependency of people on alcohol and drug abuse,” said Kgangkenna. She said of recent there have been reports that some foreigners front for some Batswana, especially some pastors to bring drugs into the country in exchange for money, something that other pastors should be aware of. The chairperson of Francistown Minister’s Fraternal Bishop Malejane Ramotshabi said at the end of the workshop, pastors would have been equipped with knowledge on how to deal with alcohol and drug addicts who are usually brought to their attention at churches. “We are living in a different world that requires us to look and approach things in a different way not to only focus on preaching the word of God,” said Ramotshabi, emphasising a need to also preach about alcohol and drug abuse.
For his part, Reverend Lesego Lekgetho of Pentecostal Holliness Church said from what they have learnt they will start to address issues from the root than focusing on preaching the word of God only.
Lekgetho said: “I have learnt that at times some situations require us to establish the background of our clients’ problems, provide them with counselling and at times to refer them for further medical counselling in order to respond to their problems”.