We're off on another celebration of the stories of endeavours made by those who have made a positive difference in their communities through drug prevention, health promotion, and youth empowerment! Our journey in this Youth Action article takes us to South America, to Cochabamba in Bolivia. We introduce you to one of the DAPC grantees, the Institute for Human Development (IDH), a non-profit organization established in 1997 to improve people’s life quality in Bolivia, and one of their areas of work focus on the prevention of substance use. Through the DAPC grant, IDH has implemented their project "Build your life without drugs" which sought to reach teachers and students to enhance their knowledge and behaviour towards drug use prevention.
Did you know that teachers have a significant impact on children? Not only do teachers impart knowledge on core school subjects, but they can also support strengthening the cognitive and social development of children and adolescents to help them lead healthier and safer life. Building on this, engaging with teachers and schools was the core focus of the project implemented by IDH. IDH worked in joint efforts with District authorities, the educational community, and teachers to enhance the teachers' role as facilitators in the school in carrying out prevention activities. Workshops were held with teachers, through which they gained knowledge on prevention activities and classroom management, and they went on to incorporate them into their classroom plans. Students and young leaders were also involved in the project, with more than 150 youth trained to carry out preventive actions to work with their peers and friends.
Prevention and early intervention are crucial, and as the child grows to spend more time in school, school culture and the role of teachers also become increasingly important. So kudos to the Institute for Human Development for focusing prevention efforts in schools!
We would like to express gratitude for the on-going contribution from the Drug Abuse Prevention Center (DAPC) in Japan, which has recently made another contribution to support youth-centred prevention projects in low- and middle-income countries. Click here to read the Webstory.
