By Ruvarashe Charakupa
I will never forget the feeling of nervous excitement as l stepped onto the football pitch in Ushewokunze, ready to kick off our peer led and substance awareness campaign. As a peer educator, l was part of a team of young people determined to make a difference in the community. We had seen the devastating impact of substance abuse on our friends, family and neighbors. We knew we had to act and as such, we came up with a plan to use sports as a platform to reach out to young people and share our message: substance abuse is not a solution, it is a recipe for disaster.
I remember the first session like it was yesterday. We had set up a stall near the pitch, with posters and pamphlets about the dangers of substance abuse. As the young people arrived, we approached them, introduced ourselves and started chatting. Some were curious, others were skeptical, but we persisted. We talked about the risks of substance abuse, the impact on health, relationships and future prospects. We shared stories of people we had known who had struggled with addiction and the devastating consequences they had faced, but we also shared stories of hope, of people who had overcome addiction and gone on to achieve great things.
Youth Education through Sports empowers youths to stay away from drugs and substance abuse
As the days went by, we saw a change in the young people we were working with. They began to open up, to share their own struggles and fears. They started to ask questions, to seek advice and to support one another. One young guy, let’s call him Mike, was particularly quiet at first but as the sessions progressed, he began to open up. He shared his story of struggle with addiction, of how he had lost friends and family, of how he had almost lost his life. We listened, we supported and we encouraged him to keep going. Today, Mike is a changed person. He is sober, he is back in school and he has even started playing football again. He is an inspiration to us all, and a testament to power of peer education.
Our campaign may have started small, but it has had ripple effect. We have reached over 500 young people, and we have seen a significant decrease in substance abuse in our community. We have also seen a surge in confidence and self-esteem among the young people we have work with. As peer educators, we have learnt that it is not just about sharing information but it is about building relationships, earning trust and empowering young people to make informed choices. We are proud of what we have achieved and we are committed to keeping the momentum going.