Carmen, 40, was named after the city’s barangay (town or neighborhood), Cagayan de Oro, where she was born. It was in this same barangay where he became involved with drugs.
“I first tried drugs when I was 20 because I was curious; then I became a regular user, ”said Carmen.
Carmen married and had a son. Her husband then died in a meeting with police because she was selling drugs. “One day I woke up and wondered: what will happen to my son?
To avoid the temptation to use drugs, at the age of 23, Carmen and her son moved from their barangay to the capital, Manila, to live and work. For 10 years, it was kept clean. After ten years, he returned to Cagayan de Oro and remarried. Unfortunately, her second husband was also involved in drugs and ended up in jail.
“My life became very complicated when my (second) husband was imprisoned and I started using drugs again. This time it was worse because I was selling drugs too. “
A second chance
In 2017, when the Philippine government intensified its campaign against illegal drugs, Carmen was added to a “drug checklist.” The city’s Anti-Drug Council invited her to attend an orientation at the Gold Citizen Welfare and Development Center, a facility that rehabilitates and treats drug users (PWUDs).
The orientation involved screening by a health worker trained to assess their level of drug use. She was invited to attend a community-based drug rehabilitation program (CBDR).
“I was careless and spaced out when I first attended the orientation,” Carmen recalled. But over the next six months, he attended CBR sessions and learned how drugs affected his mind and body and made his life in disarray. More importantly, the program gave him the skills to manage his desires, understand his triggers, and finally recover from drug use.
“When I stopped using drugs and finished treatment, my physical, mental and emotional life changed,” Carmen said. “I cried and told myself it’s never too late to change.”
In 2018, Carmen completed her CBD treatment and moved on to a later care program to learn professional skills and start an alternative lifestyle. She began earning a living making and selling handicrafts and began a journey to live productively and make healthier decisions for herself and her family. She encouraged her husband to complete his own treatment on the same program.
Rhyselle Descallar, who runs the Gold Citizen Welfare and Development Center, saw the change in Carmen.
“When I met Carmen, I saw a person who was broken and slowly starting to change, especially when she attended a skills training. The potential to earn a living in a respectable way was a factor in change, “Rhyselle said.
CBDR as a creator of change
The USAID RenewHealth project, implemented by the URC, works in 20 cities in the Philippines, including the city of Cagayan de Oro, to increase access to CBDR services and reduce drug dependence.
The project trains community facilitators in evidence-based and culturally appropriate CBDR methods. USAID RenewHealth designed and produced a treatment booklet to help local government-level health care providers record and monitor their clients’ treatment and progress and determine if they are eligible to complete the CBDR program.
The treatment booklet also helps PWUDs document their drug recovery journey. It serves as a guide to better understand the steps of recovery, including screening, rehabilitation, and treatment, as well as subsequent care. The social behavior change brochure messages encourage PWUDs to complete their recovery journey.
USAID RenewHealth will distribute 32,000 copies of the brochure to 1,596 barangays on project-assisted sites starting June 2021.
“A treatment booklet to help track a client’s progress and journey is a great way to share stories and inspire others about recovery and change,” Rhyselle said. “Pandemic or not, there is hope that lives will change through the CBDR, and our advocacy continues.”
A New Journey
When Carmen completed her treatment, Rhyselle saw the potential she had to become a community facilitator. In October 2019, Carmen, along with 62 community facilitators, attended the first training on CBDR given by USAID RenewHealth in Cagayan de Oro.
With training and guidance, Carmen’s life has changed completely. The former drug user is now a CBDR champion.
Today, Carmen is a certified community facilitator in Cagayan de Oro, where she works with clients, compassionately helping them navigate their own treatment trips. Meanwhile, her husband volunteers from the church and spends most of his time making candles and crafts while his children go to school.
To date, USAID RenewHealth has trained nearly 500 community project site facilitators nationwide to provide CBDR services to PWUDs, creating a panel of local trainers and coaches to sustainably implement CBDR services.
“The road to recovery can be difficult, but we must not give up. I am living proof that change is possible with community-based drug rehabilitation,” said Carmen.
For more information on CBDR, you can visit https://www.facebook.com/BawatSimulaCBDR.
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