CAN JOINS ANTI-DRUG ABUSE CAMPAIGN
By Thomas Faranando
National Arts Council of Zimbabwe registered organazition, Creative Arts Network (CAN) has joined the on-going fight against drug and substance abuse in partnership with different community-based organisations in Kadoma.
Creative Arts Connect initiative aims at bringing awareness on the issues to do with drugs abuse as well as encouraging youths and the community at large to appreciate the arts and showcase their creative works in the city of Kadoma. The challenge is designed at encouraging awareness and action to promote creative community in the city of Kadoma and also market the city as a good investment centre.
The organazition said they will be using arts as a tool to communicate with the youths and will be running under the theme: “Drugs and Substance Abuse: A threat to the re-building of the golden City.
“The theme highlights the need to take the creative world as a tool to communicate with the youths. The Creative sector can also employ and sustain many families. The challenge will change people’s mindset towards drugs abuse by bringing transformative changes through youths’ choices towards healthy and progressive lifestyles,” the programs director for CAN, Linda Chisamba said.
The Battle Zone challenge will be launched on 16 June in Kadoma central constituency and will subsequently spread across Sanyati district focusing on curbing drug and substance abuse.
Creative arts networks Director Faith Matarure urges all stakeholders to unite and fight the drug abuse menace.
“We as CAN have realised that we are losing active youths who are supposed to be in industries due to drug abuse, hence we set down and come up with an edutainment designed program which seeks dialogue through the use of arts and social media,” Faith said.
“The program dubbed “The Battle Zone Challenge will see 120 youths battling out in a musical challenge”. We hope and trust that all stakeholders in Kadoma will support this program. We have targeting 1000 young people to attend the launch where well experienced issues to deal with drugs abuse will be having free counselling session,”she added.
She further said they have invited a number of drugs abuse survivors who will give a first hand experience they encountered with to drugs and substance abuse.
“Drug addicts will narrate how they ended up sinking deeper into the dark world of substance abuse and how it affected them in life,”
CAN believes that for us to transform social and the economic systems means improving our partnership with the business community, understanding its value and putting that value at the heart of decision making with minds free from drugs.
Creative arts networks will not be left behind in the campaign against drug abuse, and organazitions like YMCA, KY4D, National AIDS council, city of Kadoma, Trans-Impact youths connect, Kadoma churches and business community are expected to take part in this anti-drug abuse campaigns.
Overseer Pingama of POAZ vowed to continue to support the CAN’s vision of advocating a drug free society.
He said their church is supporting sustainable development program for the young people.
“Right now as POAZ we are working on various youth focused projects with the aim of taking them off drugs in line with the word of God,” he added.
Artists like Clever Dee, Delighted voices choir, Zaina , Heaven side music, Trice, Mad Warrior, Dj Skinner, C-Jah matsotsi, All in One band are expected to entertain people at this campaign.
