Ms. Awuah (third right) and Mr. Odonkor (second right) in a group photo with the students, staff of Accra High School and the Foundation after the forum.
THE REBEKAH Awuah (RAF) Foundation, founded by award-winning Ghanaian broadcast journalist, Rebekah Awuah, has sensitized students of Accra High School on the harmful effects of alcohol and drug abuse.
At the forum held on Friday, March 16, on the Accra High School campus under the theme: “Alcohol and Drug Abuse – A National Ticking Bomb,” ex-drug addict, George Williams Odonkor, was present to share his 26 years harrowing experience of drug abuse.
Mr. Odonkor, who is now 67 years old, narrated how he came into contact with narcotic drugs in the early 1980s, and how it ruined his life and nearly killed him.
From the early days when he first came into contact with narcotics, especially the days he was trafficking drugs to Europe and other parts of the world, he said, it was a pleasant experience because he raked in a lot of money and enjoyed life to the fullest; blowing hard cash on ladies and expensive cars, among others.
However, with time as he gradually became addicted, the story began to change and most of the money he earned from the drug trafficking were now being used to feed the addiction, adding that he fell from being a rich man to a pauper.
He therefore warned the students to “say no to drugs” whenever they come into contact with it, as he claimed it could shatter one’s dreams of becoming a responsible and successful person in life.
Mental Health Advocate and Community Nurse, Jackson Seyram Avotri, who has accordingly dealt with many patients of alcohol abuse, urged the students to stay away from alcohol because as he puts it, it does nothing but destroys the body, saying that some people who ended up being drunkards started with “social drinking.”
“As students, you don’t need any alcohol to function well,” he stated.
President and Founder of the Foundation, Rebekah Awuah, shared her experience with alcohol during her childhood when according to her, her mother established a beer bar to help meet their financial needs.
She disclosed that selling at the bar made her to regularly consume alcohol until it reached a point where she told her parents that she could no longer work as a ‘bartender’ because she realized that alcohol could destroy her chances of pursuing education at the highest level.
The Foundation, she said, has come to the realization that only when young people are nurtured, will they contribute positively to the development of their society and the world at large.
On the relevance of the sensitization forum, she indicated that research from psychiatric hospitals in Ghana had shown that about 70 percent of inmates were youth from junior and senior high schools as well as tertiary institutions.
Meanwhile, Assistant Headmaster of Accra High School, Michael Addo, expressed appreciation to the Foundation for empowering the youth and encouraging them to desist from substance abuse.
The goal of the foundation is to help raise responsible youth who can make positive impacts in society.
BY Melvin Tarlue