Two women of Toekomsrus joined forces to fight Randfontein’s war against drug and alcohol abuse.

Rashida Abrahams of Sankofa, a non-profit organisation, has been working with addicts for the past two years. She recently started working with Hellenic van der Merwe of Serenity Life Institute to help local addicts free of charge.

“I do the outpatient 12-step programme as well as counselling during our group sessions. Hellenic does the detox. We do all of it out of our own pockets because we have a love for our community. We have saved many lives, but without the help of the government there is only so much we can do. Inpatient rehab centres have a waiting period of six weeks and we just can’t wait six weeks, especially when dealing with alcoholics and heroin addicts,” Rashida said.

Both of them have experienced drug abuse in their community first-hand. While Hellenic had people close to her who battled with addiction, Rashida herself had a brush with addiction until two years ago.

I have been working with addicts for five years, but I didn’t see myself as an addict until my family gave me some tough love. I started Sankofa two years ago when I got clean, and at the moment I help about five new people a day. We have many success stories and that’s what makes working with addicts worthwhile.”

Sankofa is situated at the Victim Empowerment Centre at the Randfontein Police Station, and they work closely with the police to help addicts. Rashida went on to say that addictions are a big problem in the whole of Randfontein. She involved her two children so that they can see for themselves how it can ruin lives. Hellenic’s children are also very involved in raising awareness about addiction.

“I use ear acupuncture to help detox addicts. I insert five small needles into specific points in the ear and it helps their minds to relax while the body detoxes from drugs and alcohol. Addiction is a terrible social ill that affects not only Toekomsrus, but the whole of the West Rand. We see addicts of all ages but what scares me is seeing addicts as young as six years old,” Hellenic said.

She is also involved with Parents Against Drug Abuse, but she wanted to do more than just raising awareness so she completed a course in ear acupuncture in July. She hopes to make a big difference in the community by working with Rashida.

I’m challenging our government to get more involved and to make the process of getting help easier because our youths are killing themselves. My dream is to see a female inpatient rehab centre one day,” Rashida added.