The effect of drug addiction and substance abuse on young people in the country is unquantifiable and as such, does not only increase crime rate but also violence, especially at the rural areas. The health effects of these drugs/substances are indeed damaging. This is why the Foundation initiated a one-year recovery, healing and empowerment program titled: Youth Living Above Drug/Substance Abuse/Addiction (YOLDA) 2018. The first set of the YOLDA beneficiaries graduated on April 15th, 2019 at Top Rank Galaxy Hotel, Utako Abuja.
The YOLDA program is categorized into three phases namely: Counseling weekly sessions, Medical tests, Screenings and treatment sessions and Empowerment skills/vocational training sessions. Beneficiaries were trained on 15 different vocational skills which included tailoring, hairdressing, restaurant management, hair cutting, makeup, cobbling, pastries, soap making, driving, photography/video coverage, ICT and solar panel installation. Medical tests were carried out on each of the beneficiaries to ascertain their health conditions and treatment administered on those found to be victims. At least 30 youths from the FCT and its environs have benefited directly from this one-year program. While a lot of success stories were recorded from the first set of the YOLDA beneficiaries, their graduation ushered in the beginning of the second year of the program with 60 youths participating. This set has been enrolled for the YOLDA program and are currently undergoing the counseling and medical phases which run concurrently. It is heartwarming to note that COFP partnered with the NDLEA and Government of the Czech Republic in the execution of this noble project.
