Rotary Club helps Balinese people "just say no" to drugs

Rita A. Widiadana, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar, Bali

Donny, a 15-year-old, is much like any other ordinary high school student in Denpasar. He was once a star on his school basketball team and was active in other extra-curricular activities.

Lately, this bright student has often been absent from school or falls asleep during class. His eyes have dimmed and are usually red. He also has lost much of his appetite. Neither his parents nor his teachers paid much attention to these changes until Donny was found lying unconscious near the school's rest room.

His teacher panicked as did his peers, unable to identify his "sickness." He was later brought to a nearby hospital and was diagnosed as a drug addict. He has been taking a large variety of drugs ranging from ecstasy, to shabu-shabu, crystal methamphetamine, to heroin for the last two years.

Like other big cities in Indonesia, Denpasar is also home to a band of young drug addicts. The cases of drug users among the city's youth is alarming and increasing significantly.

There are no official figures on the number of drug users, particularly among the youth in Bali. However, the fact that all kinds of illegal psychotropic substances can easily be found in Denpasar, Singaraja and other cities in Bali is really dismaying to many.

To make matters worse, drug problems involve not only teenagers from well off families in urban areas but also their poorer and less fortunate peers in remote villages across Bali.

If you stroll along some of Denpasar's streets and go to malls, entertainment centers, cafes, computer game centers or public parks and even in many school yards, you may probably meet someone offering you certain kinds of drugs that could make you "high."

Just a few years ago, drug dealing was very underground and limited to a few "inner circles."

Drugs were usually obtained through someone very close to the users. Today, this illegal business dealing can take place openly in any place through various means including on-line services via the Internet.

More distressing too, is that Bali has been identified as an international drug trafficking hub with destinations connecting Southeast Asia to other places in the world.

Data from the Bali police shows an escalating number of international drug traffickers arrested on the island in the last five years.

The situation has become a grave concern for everybody on the island including members of Rotary Club (RC) in Bali and Jakarta. The Club has been conducting various social charity programs including health and education.

Stefan Zawada, community Service Chairperson of RC of Jimbaran, Bali, told The Jakarta Post that in addition to various ongoing charity programs, RC in Bali and in Indonesia is now focusing on drug prevention programs to keep youths away from the menace of drug-related problems.

"Drug problems usually involve young people, who are our future. If they are suffering from drugs, our future will really be in jeopardy," Zawada said.

Between Aug. 21 and Aug. 24, 2003, four Rotary Clubs including from Jakarta, Seminyak, Jimbaran and Bali Taman organized a three-day training seminar for 27 teachers from 10 junior and senior high schools in Denpasar, Kuta and Nusa Dua.

The seminar's aim was to pave the way for a joint RC nationwide program for primary drug prevention.

"This was our initial program by inviting teachers first. We considered it important because they are the persons who deal with our children at schools," he said.

A lot of teachers do not have adequate knowledge and skills to handle drug-addicted students. Many of them have never seen an illegal drug, let alone the symptoms on users.

"How can they help their students if they are not equipped with sufficient information and knowledge," Zawada said.

The training in Seminyak, Kuta had turned out to be an informative gathering for these teachers.

"I had an experience with a student, who collapsed in the street because of an overdose. From that I saw, there was a need to find solutions towards these problem," a teacher said, sharing his experience and adding that he felt it was his duty to change his students' attitudes toward drugs.

Before attending the meeting, Rini, not her real name, had always been in doubt whether she could help her ailing students. "Now, I am very happy with this seminar because now I feel confident when dealing with students with drug-related problems at school," she said.

The seminar, which included counseling techniques, first aid practice and effective communications skill broadened the teachers' understanding about drug abuse and its dangers. They were also introduced to former addicts and heard first-hand of their experiences.

After their training, many participants said they hoped that the RC will hold more seminars for students and parents. They also said they would like the RC to provide them with money.

"We hope to extend the program to include all schools in Bali and we are going to work very hard to realize it," he said.