Thursday, 28 January 2010

Mombasa residents recently demonstrated against what they termed laxity by Government to end the drug menace in the town.

The Mombasa Triathlon is in the forefront in promoting sports in the Coast region. The young children and the youth who live at the Coast are at risk of getting into the Drug abuse. Sports is an important weapon and has helped many in diverting attention from drugs and keeping themselves occupied in a noble course. Thanks to the Support from Lars Gehre and Matthias Kieb from Germany for providing support to the Mombasa youth which has helped many come into sports.

It was in the year 2003 when we met the two sportsmen Matthias Kieb and Lars Gehre for the first time. At that time both were doing their volunteer services in Kenya. Mr Kieb was working at Kenyatta Hospital in Nairobi and Mr Gehre was with the GTZ-office. Accidentally they came across the advertisement of the Triathlon Championship at Mombasa and listed themselves for participation. Finally Lars Gehre won the competition 2003.

This championship was the beginning of a close friendship and cooperation between the two German and our Kenya Triathlon Association. Since that time both sportsmen have been working hard to promote further events of this kind by privately organising fund raising and donations.

For the 2006 Championships they succeeded in Germany with their sponsoring call “Your racing bike for Africa”. The result of this action and the successful call in of NIKE Germany, Condor Airlines and many other private sponsors as well as the official support of the Kenyan Embassy in Berlin and the German Embassy in Kenya was a generous donation of 10 racing bicycles and plenty of new sportswear and shoes worth more than 10.000 Euro. In addition Lars Gehre and Matthias Kieb took over enthusiastically responsibility in coaching and co-management of the Kenyan Triathlon Championships in 2003, 2006, 2010 in Mombasa and 2009 in Malindi.

We do highly appreciate all the valuable, helpful and motivating contribution and support of these two German sportsmen to bust the triathlon in Kenya itself and in the sense of sport tourism in Kenya.

We are very thankful and we are looking forward for further successful cooperation.

TOP LEFT, THANK YOU  Lars Gehre AND Matthias Kieb FROM GERMANY WITH SPORTS EQUIPMENTS THAT HELPED KENYAN TRIATHLETES.

Drug addicts in Mombasa and other parts of the coast have resorted to shocking methods to feed their expensive habit. A survey in the backstreets of the town and the narrow alleys of the Old Town, where the habit is rampant, revealed addicts who just live for they drugs they take.

A man and his wife who live in Majengo Estate share their addiction in a macabre way.The husband, who looks for their daily dose of heroin, goes to the Old Town every morning where he is injected by a peddler. He wobbles back home to find his wife waiting for him.He draws blood from his hand using a rusty syringe that they keep in the house. He then injects his wife with his drugged blood to pass on his intoxication onto her.It was a grim sight to watch as the man took his wife through what the couple calls ‘treatment’. She becomes intoxicated almost immediately after and her voice drags into a slur.

"It is too expensive for both of us to get a dose each. So I get the shot then share it with my wife by injecting her with my blood," said the addict.The couple is already confirmed to be HIV positive but, in their drugged stupor, they looked unaware of the consequences of their habit.Hundreds of addicts in Mombasa are now said to share blood in similar manner.In the Old Town, we found a group of youth surrounding an addict who was drawing his blood and injecting it into them. He charged each Sh50 to get a shot of his drugged blood. The addicts refer to the method as ‘flushing blood’.Official statistics show drug addicts in Mombasa use some of the most dangerous methods known in the underworld of drugs anywhere to feed their habits.It is also now estimated that a third of almost 20,000 drug users in Mombasa are women.Many underage children have also fallen into the habit and dropped out of school.A Mombasa-based director of the National Campaign Against Drug Abuse Authority (Nacada) Sheikh Juma Ngao says if statistics of drug abuse in Mombasa are to go by, the problem should be declared a national disaster.Nacada says majority of women drug users are introduced into addiction by men. A large number are commercial sex workers and women married to addicts.

Heroin, easily available and sold at between Sh200 and Sh400 per injected dose, is the drug of choice among most addicts who are referred to as injection drug users (IDUs).New research indicates that over 500 IDUs share syringes and blood in Mombasa alone.In rapid situation assessment sponsored by the National Aids Control Council (NAAC) completed this year, Dr Timothy Mugusia says an IDU addict can inject himself four times a day at a cost of Sh1,600.

Dr Mugusia, the Chief Executive Officer of the Darat HIV/Aids International Agency, says among the 160 respondents in the study done in Mombasa and Kilindini districts, 133 were IDUs. Out of the figure, 113 respondents were injecting themselves with heroin."Drug abuse especially among IDUs is a problem entrenched at the Coast and is spreading like bushfire. Some of the stories from the drug users on the ground are sad and frightening," he noted,calling for a comprehensive study on drug addiction.Quoting research carried out recently by Dr S.A. McCurdy, Mugusia noted the habit of sharing blood among addicts is the most dangerous trend discovered among addicts. "IDU exposes users into a number of risk factors, top among them the transmission of the HIV virus.Mombasa HIV/Aids prevalence rate has gone up to 13.7 per cent from 7.8 last year, which medical experts partly blame on the drug menace.Last month, all Kisauni constituency village elders and local MP Hassan Joho met at Kengeleni and urged the Government to go for the drug barons who fuel the trade in Mombasa.The Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya (CIPK) have since organised a workshop with members of the Judiciary urging stiff penalties for drug traffickers. It was attended by CIPK secretary general and nominated MP Sheikh Mohamed Dor and Mombasa Chief Magistrate Ms Rosemelle Mutoka.Coast Deputy Provincial Police Officer Mr Henry Barmao says the war against drugs at the Coast is on course.

If you would like to help us fight this menace, kindly donate any sporting stuff that will give motivation to our children and youth.