Blue Cross Kenya has been running a rehabilitation centre with 15 beds since 2006 in Mtito Andei, Central Kenya (on the Nairobi-Mombasa highway).The centre provides professional care and support to Kenyans who are dependent on alcohol and/or illicit drugs. The centre is however simply not big enough to address the rapidly growing alcohol and illicit drug dependence in Mtito Andei where every third adult male misuses alcohol. Blue Cross Kenya therefore needs to expand significantly its treatment capacity by constructing a new rehabilitation centre. It is hoped that this centre will be able to open its doors to clients in late 2012.
The Context in which Blue Cross Kenya Works
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In Mtito Andei, around 30% of men show alcohol use disorders, often associated with high levels of poverty and unemployment in the area.
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The consumption of homebrewed alcoholic beverages is wide-spread. These beverages can contain highly noxious substances – which can lead to blindness and severe intoxications, and even to death.>/p>
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The National Agency for the Campaign against Drug Abuse (NACADA) confirms that substance abuse has become a public health issue in the country and the essential problem is being able to adequately address it. There is a lack of easily accessible dependence treatment as there is very limited public funding available to provide treatment services. Consequently, the services available are mainly provided by private institutions and are relatively expensive.
A “Therapeutic Community” to Provide Quality Treatment to People Dependent on Alcohol and/or Drugs
The new centre will be based on the ‘therapeutic community model’ and will have 50 beds. It will offer:
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individual and group counselling;
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occupational therapy;
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vocational training;
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life skills training; and
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leisure activities.
In the centre, nearly 100 clients, at least of half of whom would otherwise not have access to any other treatment possibility, will benefit from high quality treatment each year!
Donations Welcome
Please help Blue Cross Kenya to build, staff, and equip its new rehabilitation centre!