00:00Listen to this, listen to this. It's not even about the problem.
00:04It's how we handle the problem.
00:07It's a passionate plea in the face of a silent killer.
00:10Counsellors from the fear-free Life NGO
00:13implore young South Africans like Emichle Mabuto to avoid using drugs.
00:19I actually got offered drugs by my friends.
00:22My mother separated me from them.
00:25So that's when I became right and
00:28felt like this what I did was wrong.
00:31And that's when I picked up my mistakes and be like,
00:33I won't do it again.
00:35She's from Coronationville in Johannesburg.
00:39It's a tough neighbourhood,
00:40sandwiched between a growing informal settlement and gang territory.
00:44Drug abuse is rife here,
00:46with some teens experimenting with alcohol and marijuana.
00:49But harder drugs are increasingly common.
00:53Lean and Xenics is like things they use,
00:56like they put under their tongue.
00:58And the lean, obviously, they mix it with a cold drink to become high.
01:03Counsellor Eugene Peterson is a former drug addict
01:06and is five years sober.
01:08With his fear-free life colleagues,
01:10he works across several schools in Gauteng,
01:13the province with the highest number of drug rehab admissions in South Africa.
01:18My dream was to die.
01:20I know it's weird. My dream was to die because I didn't have a vision.
01:23Our kids are going through now. It's what our kids are facing.
01:26And all that we say is, he's naughty, but he's not naughty.
01:30You don't know what he's facing.
01:32You don't know how is it for him to stand up and there's no meal.
01:38How is it for him when his mother doesn't grab him and say,
01:41my son, I love you.
01:43Defying hopelessness, unemployment, hunger and gangs
01:46is a tall ask for youngsters like Emichle.
01:49But the counselling programme has already helped her.
01:53I came here to maintain my anger issues and calm down my nerves
01:58and speak out to people because I'm not actually a talkative person.
02:02I don't talk. I just keep it in and it hurts me from the inside.
02:07Sometimes I will settle down with my mum and tell her what my issues are
02:12and tell her that this and this is this.
02:16And that's when she will help out and tell me to do this and do that.
02:24Like Emichle, many teens admit they feel angry, but can't always say why.
02:29While drugs may prove a temporary escape,
02:32fear-free life is on a mission to show even a brief high can come at a tremendous cost.
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