This Orange is for R.A.E.L.
"We've been down the horrible road of addiction and it's not cool at all."
Ermelo residents will have noticed the appearance of orange-coloured cloths adorning trees in some streets in town and are surely wondering what the colour symbolises.
By wrapping orange cloth around tree trunks all around town one is showing support for the “Say no to drugs” campaign founded by a rehabilitated alcoholic and drug addict, Anthony Hall.
Anthony is a former drug squad (SANAB) and Murder and Robbery Unit detective who is based in the Western Cape.
Anthony founded R.A.E.L. (Recovering Addicts Empowering Lives) support groups on 21 September 2007 and today is a sought-after motivational speaker and co-founder with Karin Hall of RAEL – House of Davnik, Safe and Sober Living farm.
Additionally, he founded World Addiction Day on 21 September 2009.
A husband and wife pair from Ermelo, Dennis and Judy Botha, themselves recovering drug addicts, have bravely embarked on a mission to encourage youngsters and would-be drug users to take a stance and say “no” to drugs.
“The drug problem in our town is worse than people would like to believe and we want to carry on Anthony’s mission up here in Mpumalanga and more specifically in our town,” said Judy.
“We’ve been down the horrible road of addiction and it’s not cool at all. We want to help people from even beginning to experiment with drugs by saying “No!” from the outset,” added Dennis.
They have also decided to share their new-found “clean” lives with current addicts and users in Ermelo and help them to kick the habit by holding meetings and support workshops.
“But we need the help and support of the entire community, addicts and non-addicts, parents, teachers, business people – everyone. We will be able to judge the support the campaign will have received by the number of orange-covered trees that will hopefully soon appear all over town.”
In addition to covering trees in orange, the community is urged to wear an orange-coloured garment or garments to work on Fridays.
Orange coloured cloth can be purchased at a discounted price from Mix & Match in Jan van Riebeeck Street, Ermelo.
