IN 1985 when the crack cocaine epidemic began ravaging Jamaica, Howard Gough was at the centre of the solution.Mr. Gough is now the counselling psychologist and manager of Patricia House drug rehabilitation centre.
Trained as a psychiatric nurse at Kingston School of Nursing, Bellevue branch, he was granted a scholarship by the Ministry of Health in 1988, this in recognition of his
voluntary efforts in drug abuse awareness.
He attended Richmond Fellowship International in England, a training college for mental health professionals. Howard was a volunteer at the National Council of Drug Abuse. In 1990, he was made regional manager of the County of Surrey to stimulate susbstance abuse awareness, esbalishing drug rehab stations in each parish.
IN HIS OWN WORDS:
I have always had a desire to help
mentally unstable persons.
I must confess, that I would not have smoked ganja as a teenager, if I had been more knowledgeable.
That is one way that people get addicted, just using a drug for a split second can be tragic.
I was the only trained drug abuse specialist in Jamaica. But when I returned to Jamaica in 1989, many of those who got scholarships with me, had used their qualifications to get more lucrative jobs overseas.
I returned to Jamaica because I wanted to be part of the solution.
Watching families re-unite with clients who overcome their addiction is a high-point. One mother told me that since her son recovered she no longer needs hypertension tablets.
While the salary does not justify the magnitude of work, I do it because I feel obliged.
To be a volunteer you have to be committed to the cause and the process of counselling in order to build a relationship with your client.
Many of our clients have suffered, because of irregular adults in their childhood. People they depended on neglected them.
We have room for a few volunteers.
J.C.
