Drug Workshop

 “How to Approach Drug Issues in your Home”

A workshop held by

The Muslim Women Welfare of Australia (MWWA)

And supported by

The NSW Multicultural Health Communication Service

There was a pleasing community turn up to this workshop which was held last Thursday 4^th April in Bankstown Scout Hall, Georges Hall. The list of special guests included Mr. Tony Stewart, the local MP for Bankstown, representatives from; the NSW Multicultural Health Communication Service; Canterbury-Bankstown Migrant Resource Centre; Spears sports club Karate and women’s netball, and other Community Workers.

The workshop began with a speech by the president of the Muslim Women’s Welfare of Australia; Mrs. FatenEl Dana who welcomed the audience and guests. She then presented some facts about drug and alcohol issues recently reported highlighting the fact that liquor caused 27% of deaths involving 15-29 years olds in 2002 and that drugs claimed 4% of young lives as shown in an Australian study published in the Lancet International Medical Journal.  In addition, according to the latest Bureau of Statistics, data showed 22,500 grandparents take on the primary caring role of their grandchildren because of their children’s drug problems. Mrs Dana also noted that according to a new research published in the Medical Journal of Australia, the synthetic drugs are responsible for more than one in every 100 emergency presentations.

Then Mr.Stewart took to the stand. He congratulated MWWA on the initiative for having such a workshop because it addresses the need for awareness of drug issues in the Bankstown area. He urged the attendees to get involved in their children’s lives and he gave an example from his own personal experience.

The microphone was then given to counsellor Samar El Tom who delivered a talk about young people and drug use. She explained some of the dangers of drug use with emphasis on how to protect our children against it. Her presentation also included a segment on the various types of drugs and their dangerous and deadly effects. At the end, she gave out some useful contact numbers for seeking help if needed. She also thoroughly answered questions addressed to her from the audience.

Towards the end of the workshop, the audience was divided into groups to answer some workshop issue related quizzes. There were five winners who received valuable prizes.  Shortly after, all guests were invited to help themselves to some lunch and refreshments provided by MWWA.

The workshop was very engaging and extremely informative and successful and ended by a word of appreciation given by Mrs El Dana to all parents who attended the workshop in which she emphasised the importance of education in confronting the issues of drugs and alcohol and other or similar issues.