During our time in Cape Town, each student got the unique opportunity to spend three days at a mini-internship at an organization. I spent my time at Impact Direct Ministries, a non-profit organization that provides counseling and other similar services to the community of Bridgetown. Impact Direct, like many organizations through out South Africa, was founded by community members who were genuinely concerned for the overall well-being of their township. With a growing drug problem, especially with methamphetamines, in Bridgetown, Rev. Rodgers and his parishioners, established Impact Direct Ministries in 2002 aiming to educate and counsel those in their community struggling with addiction.
While talking with Rev. Rodgers and other counselors at the Impact Direct Center I got a better picture of exactly why there are various organizations that are started in a similar way. I was told that many South Africans become frustrated because they never see the money or aid that is promised to them by the government to better their community. They feel as though the money from the government gets caught up in red-tape or in the wrong hands before they ever see any of the funds. As a result, Rev. Rodgers and others have taken it upon themselves to start the work that needs to be done. Working from charitable donations and other grants, the volunteers at Impact Direct work to serve those people who need various forms of help.
Impact Direct’s main focus is drug counseling. What sets Impact Direct apart from other drug counseling organizations is that most, if not all, of the counselors are former drug addicts themselves. Each of these counselors testifies that they were brought to the center where they found God and he showed them how to change the course of their lives. As a result, they have vowed to help change the lives of other individuals struggling with problems and situations similar to those they previously went through. Many of the people that the counselors speak with are brought in by concerned family members. They counsel the person individually then with the family members or friends if need be. When a case it too serious for Impact Direct to handle, they refer an individual to a more qualified program.
Impact Direct also runs various other programs that work in Bridgetown. Once a month they hold a seniors day where older members of the community can come in for a day and be pampered. They also have an after school program that about twenty school-children attend. They help them with homework and educate them about the dangers of drugs, gangs and violence. In addition, the counselors give short presentations at schools about drug awareness and advertising their services. From what I was told about the community, I think that the programs aimed towards children are especially important. It was painful to hear the stories that some of the workers at the center told about children they had spoken with who only wanted to be a police man so that they could have a gun, or the kids who asked them how to start smoking. When stories like these are common-place in a community, it is essential for people to reach out to these children to prevent them from joining gangs and developing devastating addictions.
In recent months Impact Direct has been working with a doctoral student at the Cape Peninsula Technical College on a project that is aimed directly at counseling young people. Drug Advice and Support (DAS) is a mobile phone based program that involves counseling through a program called MXit, an instant message service for cell phones. The center has a “screen name” that they give to youth, who then can add it to their “buddy lists”. Each Tuesday and Thursday from 2 pm to 5 pm the counselor’s all gather in a room with their computers and sign on to the service. At that time they get flooded with messages from kids all around the area and each person is assigned to a counselor. On a light day, the center will get around thirty people messaging in at a time, at a busier time, it can climb to around sixty. Each counselor talks to multiple people at a time about anything from how the weather is that day, to more serious topics such as addiction and abuse.
The aim of this service is to reach a generation of young people who are so glued to their cell phones that talking to someone in person may actually be difficult. While this is a good idea in theory, it is still flawed because instant message counseling can only go so far. One of the greatest problems associated with the program is that counselors are sometimes unable to tell if a user is actually troubled by something, or if they just look at messaging Impact Direct as a game. For instance, one message received said: “I have an eating disorder. I am addicted to toilet paper”. It is nearly impossible to distinguish from these eleven words if this person really has a serious problem, or is merely joking around. Further more, the counselors available on DAS are less-than qualified. While, yes, they were former drug addicts, they do not have the tools to completely help someone in trouble. The coordinator even let me become a counselor for an afternoon and he thought that since I was a psychology major I was over qualified.
Drug Advice and Support can really only be viewed as a sort of “ambulance” or “EMT” service. By getting their name and purpose in the community, kids who may not seek help otherwise can contact them, and the counselors can do some preliminary assessments and help. If a case is dire, Impact Direct refers the individual to another organization or agency that can give them further help. Overall, Impact Direct does great things for a community that is constantly battling problems with drugs, gangs and abuse. It is admirable that so many members of a community can come together to try and fight what, at times, may seem to be a losing battle. Their belief in God and his work guides them in what they do each day. Impact Direct Ministries is a saving grace for many a member of the Bridgetown and surrounding communities, their tireless efforts reach out to many. But how can they take their services to the next level? Is there a way for Impact Direct to perfect DAS so that it can be even more effective? To do so, I believe that the system must be integrated into professional and school counseling offices that may be better equipped to handle many of the situations.