Country of Residence
Nigeria
Age
19
Project title
Shun drugs, fight addiction.
Project Summary: Describe your project in one sentence
My project deals with helping people fight drug addiction, patnering with them in recovery, rehabilitation and helping them find their feets again, providing solid community that is Free and devoid of judgement, paying rehabilitation fees and support for them for 6 month,also connecting them to therapy and paying therapy fees, overall helping them find community whilst protecting their dignity .
Website URL(s) or social media handles.
https://x.com/BisolaAded30068
Project Category
My project is a brand new / emerging idea
Project Stage
Pilot-Stage (We’ve tried an activity or two)
Founding Story: What was the spark that led you to start your project? What was the "Aha!" moment that led you to get started and see the potential for this to succeed?
The spark that led to this project was the death of a loved one who died from lung cancer caused by nicotinic addiction when i was 12, growing up i have seen so many addicts, walking about with cigarettes in their hands whilst society seems not to care despite nicotine being linked to over 6 different types of cancer and other health issues. I witnessed actively how addiction disrupted their academic, lives, physique ,finances and ultimately health whilst the world just seemed to move on. At age 12, i never really understood how i could help but at age 15 i understand that i have a role to play and even though I do not have alot of media following, i can help those around me, impact them, discourage younger ones from drug addiction while helping those addicted to get help. I learnt that impact starts at the very grass roots so i must take charge of my immediate environment before i aspire to take my program to the world.
The Problem: What problem are you helping to solve? Why does it matter to you and your community?
Drug addiction is the problem i am helping to solve, drug addiction has led to many youth committing suicide, dropping out of school even led to death of so many youth, not only the addicts themselves but it ruins the emotions of people who loves them, it sucks out the light from addicts faces and their families, while drug addicts are addicted to drug, their families are addicted to hope which is equally painful. My work matters to me because i do not want a community riddled with cancer , drop outs leading to so many vices and crimes,most importantly i do not want a 12 year old witness the gradual obliteration of her loved one due lung addiction caused by nicotinic addiction. My Work is important to my community because it raises awareness on the danger of drug abuse while providing assistance to addicts free from discrimination, protecting their dignity too, restoring hope in them and helping then find community. My work slowly restored light to the eyes of addicts and their loved one, help reduces rate of drop out and addiction -related illness both now and future. My work is so important because it dividends are not only enjoyed now but will also be enjoyed in the future.
Your Solution: How are you solving this problem? Share your specific solution.
Since our inception, we have continued to provide assistance in the following ways. We create a community free from discrimination to support them. encourage them even when they relapse, we do not take pictures to help protect their dignity. During the course of this project,i realized that addiction thrives on a void which seemingly only drug can fill so we help them find hobbies such as swimming, drawing, textile designs, graphics designing, knitting and crocheting. We bear full cost of their rehabilitation fees so as to remove financial burden off them which may discourage them from getting help, we also provide a paltry sum of 50,000 naira to successfully recovered persons( we do not call them addicts again once they have recovered) to help them find their feets and recover. Another remarkable way which we have helped solved is to help andconnect them to addiction therapist, pay for their therapy fees as we are not expert ourselves. Another way my work has tremendously made impact is educating their loved one on how they can support their families to help them recover from addiction. My work continue to partner with organization such as local JCI chapters to discourage university students from drug addiction, providing channels to which they can get help when faced with any life daunting situation such as loss of a loved one or academic failure. Locally, my work continue to center drug addicts , champion their recovery and help their rehabilitation journey.
Impact: How has your project created impact / made a difference so far? Or, if at an early stage, what will impact look like?
Nicotinic addiction especially is very difficult to overcome, it takes time and resources. We have successfully financed the rehabilitation of 24 people, 9 of them have been discharged and successfully recovered,while 15 of them are currently undergoing treatment. The quality of lives of addicts who we have partnered with have tremendously improved, their health has gotten better and finances no longer go into the vile pit of addiction, through this, we have brought smiles not only to the addicts but to the families and friends of the addicts. Our impact is simply described by one word- multidimensional. Academically, addicts we partnered with have improved tremendously with 5 graduates from prestigious field like Agriculture, engineering and Biotechnology. Their relationship with their immediate community has improved well overtime, and the greatest impact is their health which alone is very evident in their mannerism and outward physique, teeth and lip colour. We also provided a low scale health checkup to ensure they are responding to treatment and truly getting better.
Your Innovation: What is different about your project compared to other programs or solutions already out there? How is your project new or innovative?
One very unique thing about my project is that we focus less on number but on the scale of impact on the individual life. They are very little project in Nigeria focusing on drug addiction with alot just educating about the dangers not providing sustainable solutions to the plight of those affected, in my project we take it further by connecting and financing their therapy sessions to ensure that they get help from actual professional, whilst we may not be able to successfully reverse the total effect of cigarettes over time we provide little health care services to help make sure their health is improving . We don't just talk, we place emphasis on the Action. Due to the nature of addiction, Relapsing is quite common so we continue to provide a community that feels like home so everyone when successfully recovered personnel' relapse,they are met with support and encouragement instead of disdain. When successfully recovered persons are discharged we provide a sum of 50,000 to help them find their feet and set up something for themselves. When we can, we fund their hobbies such as swimming, encourage them to take vocational classes like fashion designing even help register in chess classes so as to help them regain their feet, feel included again in the world. My program do not just stop at educating, we stay and do the necessary work with addicts.
How many people are on your team?
14
Your team: What role(s) do your team members play? How do you share leadership with them?
Different people from different societal classes makes up my team. My team consists of elder Nurses which help us organize and provide medical check up for addicts, community manager to help manage the community and make every feel heard , welfare team that goes to everyone to check up on them especially when they are in rehabilitation and the administrative member that oversee the activities of everyone. I thrive everyday to be a better leader,i encourage and make everyone feel important.
What’s Next: What are the next steps you plan to take to grow or strengthen your project over the next year? If your project is still in the idea stage, describe the steps you will take over the next three months to launch or begin developing it.
My greatest visionary goal is to join the youth parliament where i will propose a Bill that bans celebrities to stop displaying and promoting the use of drug and substance in their videos and lyrics making it look cool ,this singular act have encouraged alot who looks up to them to delve into drug abuse slowly leading them to addiction. In my community, not everyone has access to the internet but alot of people have access to radio so i plan on educating and reaching thousands of students through the state owned media and broadcasting services about danger of drug abuse, I plan on partnering with more community to provide help and join in the fight of drug addiction, communities such as Millenium campus fellowship, Enactus and Rotaract club, i also intend to invite people who have successfully recovered from drug addiction and are now successful to come speak to them so they are motivated in their journey to recovery. We hope to host program that tend to focus on how addicts families can help accelerate their recovery.
How do you encourage other people to join your project or learn about the problem you’re working on? If you have a new idea, tell us how you will do this in the future.
One effective way we have encouraged other people to learn and join about our program is to show the results of what we have been doing,i use my platform to discourage the use of drugs in our community naturally attracting people of similar interests, people whose loved one have been a beneficiary of the program join us in preaching our program, addicts who have successfully recovered help propagate the gospel of the program even though they are not compelled to due to fear of stigmatization from external world, we show key findings and actual results. One of the most effective ways we have used is telling a story to them about my loved one whose life was lost to drug addiction, educating them about how tremendously impactful the work we do is and how it takes the collective effort of everyone to achieve a drug free community. I speak to everyone who gets a chance to hear me on the importance of our work, reason why we must put resources together and work for a common good also as a way to reduces chances of cancer.
