- Training duration
- Training aims
- Trainee selection
- Programme aims
- Contact
1. TRAINING DURATION Seven days, broken up over a period of three months.
2. TRAINING AIMS At the end of the training, volunteers should be able to:- Apply primary abuse-prevention strategies when faced with someone who is at risk for substance abuse
- Identify the various mind- and mood-altering substances, and their effect on the body
- Approach a suspected substance abuser with sensitivity and insight
- Appropriately refer substance abusers for intervention
- Be able to mentor and support substance abusers who have undergone treatment (aftercare).
Training also aims to educate volunteers about what the government is doing to curb substance abuse (i.e. about the Substance Abuse Strategy and Drug Master Plan) and what support structures there are available in their area in the form of formal and informal service providers.
3. TRAINEE SELECTION One thousand volunteers will be drawn from communities in areas identified as being crime hot spots, as well as farming areas and poverty pockets with emphasis on previously disadvantaged individuals.The breakdown of volunteer locations is as follows: - Athlone, Bellville, Eerste River, Guguletu, Worcester and Wynberg districts: 75 each
- Beaufort West, George and Oudtshoorn districts: 50 each
- Khayelitsha and Mitchell's Plain districts: 100 each
- Vredenburg/Atlantis/Saldanha, Caledon, Paarl, Cape Town and Vredendal districts: 40 each
Volunteers should be: - Older than 21 years (men or women)
- Ideally already volunteering for the Department in the field of substance abuse or other sectors, or who have been put forward by an NGO
- Can show proof of good standing in the community
- Able to prove that they have been abstaining from drugs or alcohol for at least two years, or who have completed a recovery programme (if recovering substance abusers). Proof should be in the form of testimony from responsible people in the community, for example, NGOs, religious leaders, youth groups or local authorities.
4. PROGRAMME AIMS Through volunteer training, the Department aims to:- Improve primary prevention of substance abuse
Make it easier for a substance abuser to get help through appropriate referral - Improve aftercare for substance abusers who have been through treatment programme through mentorship and buddy support
- Improve the skills of volunteers already working in substance abuse and other sectors
- Build up a database of trained volunteers for use by service providers (formal and informal) in all fields
5. CONTACT The Siyabulela Deliverables: 1000 Volunteers Training Programme is managed at a regional level by the Substance Abuse Co-ordinators at the various Social Development District Offices.Local service providers are contracted to run the training. |
