Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
10ASHGABAT210
2010-02-12 13:11:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Ashgabat
Cable title:
TURKMENISTAN: RED CRESCENT SOCIETY VOLUNTEERS
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000210
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, INL/AAE BUHLER
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SNAR PGOV SOCI TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: RED CRESCENT SOCIETY VOLUNTEERS
SHOWCASE DRUG DEMAND REDUCTION EFFORTS
REF: Ashgabat 147
ASHGABAT 00000210 001.2 OF 002
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ASHGABAT 000210
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, INL/AAE BUHLER
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SNAR PGOV SOCI TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: RED CRESCENT SOCIETY VOLUNTEERS
SHOWCASE DRUG DEMAND REDUCTION EFFORTS
REF: Ashgabat 147
ASHGABAT 00000210 001.2 OF 002
1. (SBU) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet.
2. (SBU) SUMMARY: INL Assistant met recently with an
instructor from the Red Crescent Society's Drug Demand
Reduction Project, as well as local project volunteers. The
instructor highlighted the project's educational activities
with students and teachers and its public outreach. The
teenage volunteers, in turn, were eager to share their success
stories about engaging with their peers. END
SUMMARY.
ADDICTS AVOID MEETING WITH INSTRUCTORS
3. (SBU) On February 10, INL Assistant traveled to the town of
Owadan, about 12 miles outside Ashgabat, to meet with Patma
Kadyrova, an instructor with the INL-funded Drug Demand
Reduction Project (DDRP). The project, implemented by the
National Red Crescent Society (RCS),educates adults and youth
about the hazards of drug addiction. Four project volunteers
also joined the meeting. Patma briefed on her activities and
accomplishments since the project's inception in late 2008.
She targets her presentations to adolescent students in
schools. A teacher by training, she particularly enjoys
working with students, but has found doing outreach to local
doctors and nurses equally satisfying. Working with families
has been much harder, she said. Those with no experience with
addiction are not interested, and the families of addicts are
ashamed to discuss the problem with an outsider. On several
occasions, women - the spouses or family members of addicts -
have confided in her and asked that she come to the home and
try to talk to their drug-addicted son or husband. The
addicts have an averse reaction to such visits. "When I come
to visit them, they (the addicts) run off and try to avoid
me," she said. "They are either too ashamed to talk, or start
shouting, accusing me of being from the police. In such
cases, all I can do is leave copies of my brochures and ask
that they call me another time."
EVERYBODY WANTS TO VOLUNTEER
4. (SBU) Patma said that she had 17 volunteers working for her
in Ahal Province. Two are adults -- a nurse and a high school
teacher -- and the other 15 are teenagers. Only six of the 17
are trained volunteers, able to conduct the peer-to-peer
classes. The rest are enthusiastic teen-agers anxious to work
with the Red Crescent Society and the DDRP. Patma explained
it like this, "Schools no longer offer extra-curricular or
after school activities, so young people have very little to
do with their free time. Here, they enjoy getting together
with their peers and accompanying us to different venues for
presentations. They pass our brochures to the audience and
help in other ways, too. It's fun, and they feel that they're
doing something useful."
5. The four teenage volunteers (all female) who were present
looked about 17 or 18. They said that many of their
classmates also want to participate in the project. One of
them, Govher, said "We always tell them that anyone can join
us. All you need is the desire to help and, of course, be a
good student."
HOW DO YOU HELP A DRUG ADDICT?
6. (SBU) Patma and her volunteers said that the most
frequently-asked question during their presentations is "How
can I help someone stop using drugs?" She said that many
people have an addict in the family and are desperate to find
a way to help them be cured, but there are no specialized
ASHGABAT 00000210 002.2 OF 002
treatment centers. Another common question is "What are
symptoms of addiction?" She said that, during a visit to an
orphanage, she asked the children to draw a picture of what
they thought a drug addict looked like. "All the children
draw pictures of scary, ugly men. Some drew monsters," Gowher
said.
WHAT'S IN THE GIFT BOX?
7. (SBU) The volunteers said that teenagers love the peer-to-
peer classes. One volunteer named Oguljeren said, "Our
presentations take place in a friendly atmosphere and we
sometimes play thematic games." One of the games that they
play with their peers is called "What's in the gift box?" The
object of the game is to present a box to the audience and ask
them to guess what is inside. Anyone can look inside, on the
condition that they not reveal the contents to the remaining
"guessers." The game demonstrates time and again, she said,
that there are always people with poor will power, who cannot
resist divulging the secret to the others. She said that they
tend to be the kinds of individuals vulnerable to peer
pressure and drug addiction.
8. (SBU) COMMENT: Involving volunteers in DDRP activities is
a cornerstone of the DDRP project, and part of its success.
Many of the DDRP volunteers plan to continue with community
activities in the future with the RCS or other NGOs. Others,
using their experience with drug demand reduction activities,
say they want to study medicine and become physicians
specialized in the treatment of drug addicts. END COMMENT.
CURRAN
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR SCA/CEN, INL/AAE BUHLER
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SNAR PGOV SOCI TX
SUBJECT: TURKMENISTAN: RED CRESCENT SOCIETY VOLUNTEERS
SHOWCASE DRUG DEMAND REDUCTION EFFORTS
REF: Ashgabat 147
ASHGABAT 00000210 001.2 OF 002
1. (SBU) Sensitive but unclassified. Not for public Internet.
2. (SBU) SUMMARY: INL Assistant met recently with an
instructor from the Red Crescent Society's Drug Demand
Reduction Project, as well as local project volunteers. The
instructor highlighted the project's educational activities
with students and teachers and its public outreach. The
teenage volunteers, in turn, were eager to share their success
stories about engaging with their peers. END
SUMMARY.
ADDICTS AVOID MEETING WITH INSTRUCTORS
3. (SBU) On February 10, INL Assistant traveled to the town of
Owadan, about 12 miles outside Ashgabat, to meet with Patma
Kadyrova, an instructor with the INL-funded Drug Demand
Reduction Project (DDRP). The project, implemented by the
National Red Crescent Society (RCS),educates adults and youth
about the hazards of drug addiction. Four project volunteers
also joined the meeting. Patma briefed on her activities and
accomplishments since the project's inception in late 2008.
She targets her presentations to adolescent students in
schools. A teacher by training, she particularly enjoys
working with students, but has found doing outreach to local
doctors and nurses equally satisfying. Working with families
has been much harder, she said. Those with no experience with
addiction are not interested, and the families of addicts are
ashamed to discuss the problem with an outsider. On several
occasions, women - the spouses or family members of addicts -
have confided in her and asked that she come to the home and
try to talk to their drug-addicted son or husband. The
addicts have an averse reaction to such visits. "When I come
to visit them, they (the addicts) run off and try to avoid
me," she said. "They are either too ashamed to talk, or start
shouting, accusing me of being from the police. In such
cases, all I can do is leave copies of my brochures and ask
that they call me another time."
EVERYBODY WANTS TO VOLUNTEER
4. (SBU) Patma said that she had 17 volunteers working for her
in Ahal Province. Two are adults -- a nurse and a high school
teacher -- and the other 15 are teenagers. Only six of the 17
are trained volunteers, able to conduct the peer-to-peer
classes. The rest are enthusiastic teen-agers anxious to work
with the Red Crescent Society and the DDRP. Patma explained
it like this, "Schools no longer offer extra-curricular or
after school activities, so young people have very little to
do with their free time. Here, they enjoy getting together
with their peers and accompanying us to different venues for
presentations. They pass our brochures to the audience and
help in other ways, too. It's fun, and they feel that they're
doing something useful."
5. The four teenage volunteers (all female) who were present
looked about 17 or 18. They said that many of their
classmates also want to participate in the project. One of
them, Govher, said "We always tell them that anyone can join
us. All you need is the desire to help and, of course, be a
good student."
HOW DO YOU HELP A DRUG ADDICT?
6. (SBU) Patma and her volunteers said that the most
frequently-asked question during their presentations is "How
can I help someone stop using drugs?" She said that many
people have an addict in the family and are desperate to find
a way to help them be cured, but there are no specialized
ASHGABAT 00000210 002.2 OF 002
treatment centers. Another common question is "What are
symptoms of addiction?" She said that, during a visit to an
orphanage, she asked the children to draw a picture of what
they thought a drug addict looked like. "All the children
draw pictures of scary, ugly men. Some drew monsters," Gowher
said.
WHAT'S IN THE GIFT BOX?
7. (SBU) The volunteers said that teenagers love the peer-to-
peer classes. One volunteer named Oguljeren said, "Our
presentations take place in a friendly atmosphere and we
sometimes play thematic games." One of the games that they
play with their peers is called "What's in the gift box?" The
object of the game is to present a box to the audience and ask
them to guess what is inside. Anyone can look inside, on the
condition that they not reveal the contents to the remaining
"guessers." The game demonstrates time and again, she said,
that there are always people with poor will power, who cannot
resist divulging the secret to the others. She said that they
tend to be the kinds of individuals vulnerable to peer
pressure and drug addiction.
8. (SBU) COMMENT: Involving volunteers in DDRP activities is
a cornerstone of the DDRP project, and part of its success.
Many of the DDRP volunteers plan to continue with community
activities in the future with the RCS or other NGOs. Others,
using their experience with drug demand reduction activities,
say they want to study medicine and become physicians
specialized in the treatment of drug addicts. END COMMENT.
CURRAN