Sibongile Ndiweni, Sunday News Reporter
AS substance abuse continues to run rampant in the country, with daily incidents of loved ones losing their lives to drugs, Kahle Counselling Hub from Bulawayo has taken an initiative to fight against the new pandemic.
Founded by two women, Nompumelelo Mlotshwa and Talent Gutu last year, Kahle Counselling Hub is a registered entity providing counselling and training services in Zimbabwe and beyond.
The organisation offers individual counselling, group counselling, online video counselling, couple counselling, mental health awareness talks, tailor-made counselling short courses and bootcamps.
“We were motivated to venture into private practice for personal growth, passion, and the many years of experience in the counselling profession, so that we can fill in the identified gaps. We felt we could contribute more to service the society by offering competitive counselling and training services”, said Mlotshwa.
Mlotshwa said considering their organisation’s motto which says “Your Mental Health is our Priority”, they saw it fit to play a role in fighting drug and substance abuse in youths because they hold the future of tomorrow.
“Drug abuse has become a threat to our society, young lives have been destroyed and their future hangs in the balance. There is fear that a generation could be wiped out if we don’t take the responsibility to address the problem of drug abuse,” she said.
Drug abuse
Kahle Counselling Hub offers services which aim to empower their clients with life skills that will enable them to cope with their daily life demands and assist them to improve their well-being. And their clientele cuts across different racial and ethnic divisions which include key populations within the country and across the diaspora.
Mlotshwa said their vision is to build a highly competitive, professional, and effective counselling business that will become the number one choice for individuals, families, and corporate organisations.
Last Tuesday, the organisation launched its first online seminar on Teen Drug and Substance Abuse, with the prevention focusing on the role of parents and how they should guide their children in every step of the way. From the seminar, 20 participants attended and they included participants from Zimbabwe, South Africa, United Kingdom, Canada, and Ireland. Since the setup of the organisation in October 2022, they have managed to change the lives of 60 clients including their support systems. They have also held a workplace mental health awareness talk that covered the attendance of 50 workers.
With the accessibility of drugs and being sold at very cheap prices, the youths are even going as far as coming up with many creative ways to get high like boiling diapers or using the powder in bulbs to try and get the satisfaction they want and because many have nothing to keep them busy, they join the drug crew in large numbers day by day.
Mlotshwa said she was advising the youth and drug abusers to seek help from health care providers and counsellors, because drug and substance abuse can never be of any benefit to them.