The best    weapons    against    drugs    are    a    profound    knowledge    and    a strong    personality    

Photo gallery here

Auch This  year,    like    every    year,    the    drug    prevention    day    was    involved    in    the    curriculum  of    the    different    classes    and    subjects.    

 We students    still    remember    last    year’s    “Antidrug    Day”,    which    was    an    informative   day    with    plenty    of    talks    with    interesting    people    from    outside    of    our    school    and    classes.  Mr. Wendland,    Anna-­‐Lena, Ms. von    Rensburg,    Mrs.    Moßmann,    Patrick,    Alex,    Augostin,    Michael    and    Mr. Busch organised    the    “Antidrug    Day”    with    the    representatives    of    the    Star    Kids    School  and    the    workers    from    Banana    Hills.   

4th  May    was    a    day    fully    focused    on    drug    prevention.    We    (Classes    8  to 11)  worked    together    with    “Our”    Star    Kids    secondary    school    students    in    4    different  workshops. 

The    first    two    groups    worked    on    music    and    art    projects,    lead    by    Mrs. Moßmann,    Ms.    von    Rensburg    and    Patrick,    

the    third    group,    led    by    Mr.    Busch,    worked on    the    physiological    effects    of    drugs    and    the    identification    of    drugs    in    a    lab

and  the    fourth    group,    with    Augustin    and    Michael,    took    a    closer    look    at    diseases    like  HIV,    Hepatitis    B    and    a    few    sexually    transmitted    diseases.

All these    workshop    groups    worked    with    a    focus    on:    

“A strong    personality    and    in    depth    knowledge    are    the    best    weapons    against    drugs”.  

 The results    of    our    workshops    can    be    understood    well    through    the    photos.    Many  discussions and    group    actions    took    place.    

Summary:  

When we    have    problems,    it’s    good    to    talk    to    friends    and    people,    who    you    trust    out them.    We    know    who    to    talk    to    and    who    will    stand    by    us    and    give    us    good    advice.  We    can  recognize    dangerous    situations    and    overcome    them    with    our    profound knowledge    on    the    subject.    We    can    speak    to    younger    students    and    pass    on    our    knowledge, so    as    to    help    the    future.

 We will    develop    this    pilot    project    with    Kamau    (person    of    reference)    and    the    Star    Kids    to    a    part    of    the    curriculum,    which    will    hopefully    also    be    integrated    into    the    Kenyan    school    system    to    help    prevent    drug    consumption.    In the    name    of    all    the    students    from    classes    8 to 11,  we    would    like    to    thank    the    organizers    of    this    project    and    hope    to    continue    working  constructively    with    the    Banana    Hills    Drug    Prevention    Center.    

The  students    of    class    11

A new substance abuse prevention programme will be introduced at the GSN.

The focus of this new concept will lie in the combination of several subjects which deal with social and scientific education. A further aspect will be the broader discussion of reasons that result in drug consumption.For example, in the science subjects and in Ethics,by using age-appropriate methods, we will address the theory about personality change due to problems in school, at home or amongst friends.We will also look at the effect of drugs on the body and the mechanisms that can be used to deal with social co-existence.

In order to expose our students to life beyond the school gates, in other words to see life in the “real world”, we will attempt to bring our students closer to the people of our host country, and to discuss problems in the context of various cultures. The school’s management team has managed to get in touch with a Kenyan help-organisation, which helpsaddicted teenagers and young adults to find their way back into society. 2 pastors and 2 social workers rent rooms in a small house for this purpose in Banana Hills in Ruaka, and their doors are always open to anyone with any kind of problem.

In these rooms, which incidentally have the characteristics of a small library, people can discuss their problems and urgencies, they can read books, and they can find others who are simply willing to lend an ear. 

Additionally they can get tips on how to overcome problems via group discussions, and in some cases they also get support from the authorities. 

Members of the German School’s Management team (Mr Boddenberg and Mr Busch) accepted the invitation of one of the leaders of this project, Kamau, (who leads the substance abuse prevention programme) to visit the centre, and discussed the possibility of working together at different levels.

We hope to create a concept which will include discussions with both parties, mutual lesson observations and further training sessions for social workers as well as combined workshops.

An agrrement for the co-operation was signed.

The first project will be called the “anti-drug day”, which will take place on the 3^rd of June at the school under the guidance of Ms Weber-Bernardo, Mr and Mrs Busch. 

Students from the German School and from our African partner school, as well as people from the Banana Hills Programme will get together in workshops and group discussions based on the most varied of topics on the prevention and on the problems of drug abuse in our host country Kenya. 

Rainer Busch