In this deeply moving and enlightening episode of "Pathways to Prevention," host Dave engages in a heartfelt conversation with Stacey Doorly Jones, the founder and CEO of Stand. Stacey opens up about her journey, marked by a childhood riddled with abuse and trauma, and how she transformed these harrowing experiences into a life dedicated to helping others. Her story is not just one of survival, but of profound resilience and an unwavering commitment to make a difference in the world.
Listeners will be captivated as Stacey delves into the critical role of therapy in her life, discussing how years of counseling helped her navigate through her past and foster a deep sense of compassion and empathy. This episode is a testament to the power of healing and the impact one individual can have on their community and beyond. Stacey's work through her non-profit organization, Stand, is a beacon of hope, focusing on harm reduction and providing support to women and youth in remote regions of Cape Town, South Africa.
The conversation also explores the nuances of harm reduction, a key aspect of Stand's approach, and how this strategy is implemented to make a tangible difference in the lives of those struggling with substance dependence. Stacey shares inspiring success stories from her work, highlighting the transformative power of acknowledging and supporting those in need.
This episode is not just a story; it's an invitation to understand the depths of human struggle and the heights of human resilience. It's a call to action for empathy, understanding, and support for those who face the challenges of addiction and trauma. Stacey's journey and the work of Stand are shining examples of how compassion and dedicated action can create waves of positive change.
Episode Links:
Drug Free America Foundation Links:
In this deeply moving and enlightening episode of "Pathways to Prevention," host Dave engages in a heartfelt conversation with Stacey Doorly Jones, the founder and CEO of Stand. Stacey opens up about her journey, marked by a childhood riddled with abuse and trauma, and how she transformed these harrowing experiences into a life dedicated to helping others. Her story is not just one of survival, but of profound resilience and an unwavering commitment to make a difference in the world.
Listeners will be captivated as Stacey delves into the critical role of therapy in her life, discussing how years of counseling helped her navigate through her past and foster a deep sense of compassion and empathy. This episode is a testament to the power of healing and the impact one individual can have on their community and beyond. Stacey's work through her non-profit organization, Stand, is a beacon of hope, focusing on harm reduction and providing support to women and youth in remote regions of Cape Town, South Africa.
The conversation also explores the nuances of harm reduction, a key aspect of Stand's approach, and how this strategy is implemented to make a tangible difference in the lives of those struggling with substance dependence. Stacey shares inspiring success stories from her work, highlighting the transformative power of acknowledging and supporting those in need.
This episode is not just a story; it's an invitation to understand the depths of human struggle and the heights of human resilience. It's a call to action for empathy, understanding, and support for those who face the challenges of addiction and trauma. Stacey's journey and the work of Stand are shining examples of how compassion and dedicated action can create waves of positive change.
Episode Links:
Drug Free America Foundation Links:
Dave: All right, podcast listeners, welcome back to another episode of the Pathways to Prevention podcast. I'm excited to welcome Stacey to our show today. Welcome Stacey.
Stacey: Thank you so much, Dave. A very, very big hello and thank you so much. I'm so grateful for this opportunity today. Thank you.
Dave: I am excited and grateful that we've, we've been able to connect and I've enjoyed every minute of our conversations before hitting record. So I know listeners y'all are in store for a wonderful. Wonderful conversation, but before we get into it, would you mind introducing yourself particularly where are you located in this world?
And, what do you do?
Stacey: Thanks so much, Dave. So, where am I located? So I'm Stacey Doorly Jones. I'm the founder and chief executive officer of a nonprofit organization called Stand, and I am right at the tip of Africa, beautiful, sunny Cape Town in South Africa.. you know, everybody comes from a context, Dave, and if I, if I look at my journey, it really comes from a childhood of abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, trauma, mental illness, gender-based violence, and substance dependence. And that really was my childhood. And I have been extremely privileged, despite having this childhood, to, to have access in my later life to support and help.
I didn't know that I needed help and support, until late into my thirties when I actually started remembering things and, and, and realizing, you know, what had actually happened to me. And I have, very deep, deep, deep seated, deep rooted trauma. I somehow throughout my life always had this compassion, this, this understanding, deep compassion for humans that turn to substances to take away the pain, to take away the trauma.
And I've been told many, many times in my own journey, to, to a healthy life, let's put it that way, to realizing who I am. Is that somehow I'm an anomaly in that I should have been, you know, as, as they would say, you know, into, progressed addiction, possibly homeless, you know, in jail or, or dead.
And I am enormously, enormously grateful for the fact that I am here. And I'm able to do this work and there is obviously a greater reason. I have never, I've, I've never used or no, that's actually, no, let me not say that. Of course I've dabbled in drugs when I was a teen. I did dabble in drugs. but you know, not, not heavily, or, you know, I smoked some marijuana and so on, tried it and, and that was it.
But I have a very beautiful group of friends who essentially became my family, you know, in the 80s. I used to call us the feral kids, that lacked family foundation and we found family in, in one another. And very sadly, I have lost a few of those. Beautiful friends, to, to substance addiction and overdose.
And I have seen what it has done in my own family's life. I have seen the tears and the rips and the shredding, and I just have this enormous drive, this pull to help people that don't have access to the kind of help that I had to heal. And With the deep understanding of why, in most instances, they have turned to using substances.
And, yeah. So it makes me quite emotional there too, to think about it. just listening, listening to the stories. Understanding over the years, many, many years. There is always a context. There is always a story behind why. and never ever just to take something at face value. Never. No judgment. Yeah,
Dave: Powerful. I love that you pointed out your, your compassion, empathy, and, and gratitude being so, so ingrained in your heart and your soul. As well. And I wonder if you might unpack that a little bit and, share with us maybe some of the insights that you see as to why you considered yourself an anomaly. We're able to heal
Stacey: So it's not really me, that thought I was an anomaly. I, you know, throughout my years in, in counseling and I have needed. extensive counseling, to get, to get through, to where I am today. and it's essentially 24 years of, of therapy, to, to work through the trauma.
I've been told by my therapists that I'm an anomaly. They don't understand, you know, how, how it is. That I'm doing what I'm doing and able to do what I'm doing, but there is a drive and there is a force that is, is something I cannot, it's, it's not a tangible thing. I can't explain it. I can, I can only say to you, I am driven.
I am driven and, and that energy and that love never ever wavers. It never wavers. When I see another human and I see the pain. that is in their eyes. And so, you know, I had to, to really work through, a very broken, broken down childhood. And I made a number of decisions in my life without having a foundation or a value system, to measure anything by.
And the lack of that, um, somehow I was able to just, I think it was just intrinsic within me that there was that compassion, that, that, that there was that love of people and animals and to do no harm. I mean, that really drives my heart and it's a very, very difficult thing for me to. To actually put a label on or to say where it comes from because Dave, I, I, to be perfectly honest with you, I don't know, but there have been many, many times.
where I've cried in pain and I have screamed at why, you know, why do I have to see what I see? Why do I have to hear what I hear? why, why am I in this? and in as much as I say that I'm then faced with somebody that has healed or somebody that has, Just come through the worst trauma in their life and, and, and they come to me and they say, Oh, I need you.
I need to tell you this, or, just recap on the journey. and, and what's happened to me and where I am now. And those are the types of things Dave that feed me. that feeds my soul and it keeps me pushing. when all the odds keep saying to me, just don't, you know, you're compromising yourself and you're compromising your family and you're compromising and somehow the family still holds me up.
everybody just holds me up and I'm still able to keep going by some miracle. So, yeah, that's pretty much in a nutshell.
Dave: Well, that, that was beautiful. That, that was, and. I can relate so much of your story resonated with me, not because I have the same story, but some of those same feelings, they just kind of made me go, Oh yeah, that that's kind of how I feel. I don't know how many times I've been asked, Dave, what gets you out of bed in the morning and get you to your drive?
Where does it come from? And I've never been able to put my finger on it and say, well, this is why I do what I do. This is what gets me out of bed. I just do it.
Stacey: You just, do it absolutely there. And you know what? I think possibly it may be purpose. It's our purpose on this earth.
Because if we're not able to articulate this. if we're not able to label it and, and, and, and there's this continued drive every single day in a really hard, very hard part of life, I believe it's purpose.
Dave: hmm. Mm hmm. Yes. And earlier in my life, I, I got caught up in the comparison trap and felt like I never had a calling. I, I, you know, I never like, Oh, I can't wait to go to college or university and be a doctor or an engineer. I, I still don't know what I want to do when I grow up. but that, that bothered me, that stressed me out and.
I finally came to this realization or acceptance that just be Dave and go all in on being me and doing what I do and being who I am and my, I will find my calling that way. And that has. Taking a lot of pressure off that I was putting on myself to, to know what am I meant to do in this world instead of trying to figure out what just do, just be
Stacey: And
you know, Dave, that resonates with me because I never knew, I didn't have the opportunity, for any, you know, post school, you know, college education, but I was asked so many times, you know, what are your goals? What are your plans? What? And I could never ever say that I could never articulate it.
and through this journey, I have been. you know, it's been told to me that, you know, trauma, you know, when you go through that extent of trauma, it is very, very difficult because you're living in the moment, you're in survival mode. And to be able to try to think beyond that is, you know, it's, it's, it's, it's almost an impossible thing to ask someone.
And it took me breaking down this year, in April, literally in a gibbering heap on the floor and having to go to an, an inpatient, treatment facility for complete burnout and, and exhaustion. And, and in there I had the most incredible trauma release. I was taught the foundational things that I was never taught in, you know, in childhood.
And out of that, I actually started realizing pretty much what you were saying earlier on is just, just be me, just be me and, and continue. And that's what I'm doing right now. That's what I'm doing.
Dave: this is an audio only podcast, but listeners. If, if it was a video, you would see my face just beaming smile and energy and Stacy, I felt a, a warmth come over my heart as you were, you were sharing that story of just be me. It, yes. Like a warm hug. I love it.
Stacey: Oh, Dave, don't make me cry on this podcast, please. I keep it together here.
Dave: there was another, another thread that you had kind of shared through your, your story that I kind of want to pull out and talk about just a little bit, if you don't mind. Part of my healing journey and growth. Is finding harmony with the seasons of life in that I've shifted my, my mindset, my paradigm from having work life balance. Cause things are never going to be in balance. It's going to be busy one way or the other ebb and flow. And so accepting and embracing the harmony that is life.
But then I also kind of had a realization when you were talking about, you're going to therapy and that my healing journey has been in seasons. As well in that different seasons of therapy, different healing steps along my journey. And I wonder what your thoughts are on that. I feel as though, and this is just my, my own thought that oftentimes you think, Oh, I went to therapy.
I'm, I'm good. I'm fine. Or, you know, it's a, a one time type of thing, but I want the world to know that It is a journey and there are steps and seasons. What are your thoughts on
that?
Stacey: Absolutely, Dave. oh my gosh. It is really walking a path. and, and I, I relate to this 100%. And you know, as I said to you earlier. How many years, you know, 24, 25, 26, years in, in therapy, and I'm not talking consecutively. and, and, and that really links to, to what you're saying about, you know, the journey, the seasons of healing.
Is you're, you know, you, you, you work through something that you're really struggling with, and you're trying to piece together. And it's, it's almost like. You know, a great therapist, dearly departed, who, who played such a significant role in my healing. He told me that this process is like Table Mountain in Cape Town.
You climb up the side, you walk along the flat top, and then you walk. and you continue. The process, each time, each season, has a beginning, a journey, and an end, and then we're okay for a while, and then we need it again, because we need to work through something. And that process, honestly and truly, is, I link it S 100% to the journey of recovery, for, for people with, with substance dependence.
you know, because obviously we're speaking within that context, but is that this, this is, it's a, it's a, it's, it's a, it's a journey. It's a road. you get one thing right? You get an amazing thing out of it. You get an incredible learning. You apply that and life happens. Life shifts, life morphs. and you then come across something else that you really struggle with and then you need, you need to, to tap into that again and you know, whichever way that you're going to do it.
You need to work through it to continue. And that is essentially the, you know, from, certainly from my side, the, you know, the journey of, of life. And it's only happened in the latter, the latter sort of 25 years. But yeah, you know, Dave and, and that is essentially, you know, I'm so grateful that I've been able to walk, walk that, that journey and, you know, to those, those big challenges, and, and learning how to overcome them. And in that journey, Dave., I am able to impart to others what I have learned, not to apply my own context
but certainly to take the wisdom of the journey and be able to share that. And it's absolutely incredible how people have, have stopped and really listened. And to give you a perfect example, is I was told you need. In this context of your life right now to step back and observe quietly with kindness.
And I realized by doing that, you take off whatever lens you are looking at someone through, be it through your own what, whatever you're going through on that day, whatever's happened to you, whatever you're feeling about someone. If you are able to step back and observe quietly, with kindness, you are able to see so much more.
You are able to understand so much more. You are able to listen so much more. Yeah, sure.
Dave: Oh, yes. And just as you were saying, you, you share your journey, not for the specific context yet again, I'm nodding and your story, what you're sharing is resonating. Oh, so well with, with my own journey that I'm still on, of course. Yes. And the, the kindness that you mentioned, to pause and be quiet and just observe with kindness how that resonated with me was that I had to focus that kindness towards myself and just pause and let myself listen and let myself feel. a part of my trauma, I was compartmentalizing and trying to lock all my emotions in a box and not feel because I was in combat and I felt like that was a survival mechanism. But then back in the States, readjusting civilian life didn't work. It was not feasible. It's not healthy. And yeah, I had to learn to let myself feel.
And then understand those feelings, process those feelings. Yeah. Well, uh, I'm going to, yeah, I was kind of having a moment there. I was taking myself back to sitting on my couch with my journal and just a big moment for my journey was right. Yeah. Okay. I'm back.
Stacey: I need to just tell you, and I thank you so much for that. You've just reminded me to step back and and also look at myself with kindness. And I'm I really appreciate that reminder.
So thank you for sharing Dave from from your side, because that's certainly something I have not been doing. Thank you for that. Thank you.
Dave: Self love is, is something I don't feel is talked about or understood nearly enough. And it is So important.
we're what? 20, 20 some odd minutes into this conversation and it's been beautiful already. But we haven't even talked about stand. Can we, can we take a, a right turn in this, this conversation, this journey and, and tell our listeners about social transformation, action defined.
Stacey: absolutely, Dave. thank you. And I think, you know, pretty much the reason is I think it's just all, you know, the whole thread just runs through, so it's, it's, it's just a natural transition. So essentially, social transformation, action defined, I know it's a very long, drawn out name, but we call it stand and, pretty much stand action.
And I love that word action because it's very much around taking action. And if I put it in a nutshell, what do we do? We reduce harms. to drug and alcohol dependent people. We walk a path with them to abstinence. by reducing harms along the way. And you and I had a short discussion around that word harm reduction, which I hope we do come back to within the context of Stand's work.
but just furthering on, on what it is that we do, we have a very special focus on, on women in remote regions, um, and youth in remote regions in, in the Western Cape of South Africa, because these are communities that are. under resourced, highly, highly stigmatized and ostracized by their communities and particularly it's an incredibly patriarchal society within which they live in the rural regions and hence the women, the women are, are, are so deeply, deeply traumatized and by extension their children and So what we do is really quite a, a long thread really.
we ensure that We link women and young people. We don't leave out the men, by the way, but there is a special focus, on women because of the extent, of suffering that they go through. We, we, we promote, gender centric and non stigmatizing access to, to support, gender based violence support, um, healthcare.
And, and treatment services. And when I say treatment services, I, I'm not saying in the rural regions, because there are none. And what we also do is we ensure that we capacitate and educate all sectors of government and civil society organizations on how to work. With women and and young people and actually remove the harms, remove the stigma, remove the biases that they're seeing them through and instead of them turning away, actually coming to them for help.
And we also actively advocate. For the removal of any barriers to treatment that exist, as well as we provide an early intervention trauma informed treatment service for primary and high school learners in , The remote region, of the Cape Winelands. So that's sort of stand in a nutshell and it really spans along pretty much social development rather than, you know, addressing one particular thing, because I don't think you can address anything in isolation.
we're a society. And a person consists, consists of so many different facets and there's so many different angles that we need to work with in order to help somebody and, and, you know, to restore and help them heal.
Dave: absolutely. And. Why wait? Let's jump right into harm reduction.
Stacey: Great.
Dave: Let, let's unpack your, your model for, for reducing the harms, your approach to harm reduction, tell me all about it.
Stacey: Yeah. Thank you so much, Dave. I get, you know, I'd spoken to, to Amy not so long ago. just obviously being on, on the various platforms, advocating for reducing harms and that special word harm reduction and how polarized It's, it is , you know, thrown around, within the areas that, that we all work and it became clear to me that.
The word harm reduction was largely associated with, needle and syringe programs or, overdose prevention sites or opiate agonist therapy and within the work and the context of Stand's work. We don't have,syringe using, populations. It's, it's pretty much, you know, stimulant use crystal meth, heroin is, is smoked, you know, rather than injected and alcohol is.
You know, a hugely prevalent substance, you know, and, and then moving into, into cannabis and, and, crystal meth. And so the work within our context is essentially walking a path , with a human being , walking a path to abstinence, but reducing harms along the way.
And the way that we do that is. I'm not going to say twofold. I'm going to say it's, it's many fold. So the types of work that we have been doing, the nuts and bolts work, we do via various projects and we do. as a specific service, which is, you know, to the youth, but I'll start in terms of, the project's work, you know, as, as we receive support and funding, we're able to do this work.
so that would essentially mean, right, let's make sure that we directly link People who use drugs and alcohol will, when I say use, are dependent on drugs and alcohol to services that are not stigmatized. and that there's equitable access to these services. and obviously they, they rely on, on, you know, the, the government sectors such as, the Department of Health, the Department of Social Development.
And the, law enforcement, and we call that in South Africa SAPS, South African Police Services. So in order to link them to these services and ensure that there's a mutual understanding and not a fear and not a stigmatization, we actually need to bring these parties together. But before we do that, we need to sensitize.
And so where this reaches various levels is. I've learned through this process that we always need to work because we're working within the sectors in the spheres of government, services that we need to get their buy in. We need to get it from the top levels. before we do anything. And we've been very lucky, to be able to do this.
people have just been willing to hear, in the senior levels of government and And they've given their, their big tick box or, you know, approval. And then we have been able to work, downward. And so what we, what we do, the process is we engage with community healthcare workers.
and this is. between civil society organizations that render health care, you know, HIV, sexual reproductive health care services and, also the civil society organizations. And what we do is we ask them to engage with the woman who they know are using drugs and alcohol in their communities.
And, but this is only done after we have sensitized them. We've sensitized the community healthcare workers on how to engage, without bias. And then what happens is we have a focus group, and this is, you know, something that has been repeatedly, done, and it has proved incredibly powerful and incredibly positive.
In terms of the outcomes, because first of all, nothing about us without us, which I'm quite sure, you know, you've heard many, many times and what you do in, in, in one area may not work in the other area. And you have to understand directly, you know, in that whole sort of needs analysis, what is, what is needed.
And. We've had the most incredibly powerful focus groups, you know, with, with women in these remote regions and they have felt safe and, you know, they've really exposed the deepest core of, of what is harming and hurting them. And from that, We're actually able then to develop a, a service or not a service, but a plan and, and implement.
So what that would then entail is right. We would need to capacitate these women. we need to make them feel human. We'd need to acknowledge them. We need to acknowledge their human rights. When, because their self esteem is so low that they literally have to look up. To see the ground and that's the first thing we have to do.
It's just lift them and let them know that they are not being judged, that they're being held and they're being supported and they're being listened to. We also then support them in terms of some, you know, fight financial literacy. we, we walk a journey with them. So if a project for instance, is a year, we walk the journey with them for that year.
But at the same time, We ensure that there is sustainability being built so that the communities are able to support themselves alongside those sectors of government that we've linked them to. So we would walk that journey for a year, linking them to social economic opportunities, you know, linking them as I said to, to healthcare services, sexual reproductive health and HIV.
And. Also teaching them how to reduce the harms that they are doing to their bodies, you know, back through educating, through, through getting healthcare involved and also through forming these little networks. of, of support within their various communities and supporting that and developing them and growing them and empowering them.
And the phenomenal thing is that by doing that, they actually do find their voices. They find their voices and they realize that they're important and that they are heard. And what we do concurrently is we then sensitize, as I said, those various sectors, you know, that, that render those services. So we will sensitize them.
We will capacitate them on, on, you know, how, when they are actually working. With people who use drugs and alcohol, how, how to work with compassion, understanding, and, and, you know, what, what to, recognize, for instance, you know, for instance, the dehydration, et cetera, with, crystal meth, et cetera, you know, so signs, and then what to do, so it's a very practical side of doing things, and then what we do is we, we link the two.
Okay. Thank you. So once we have set up the initial capacitation, and, and, and networks of support in, in the various, communities, and they've elected their leaders. We then further capacitate those leaders to grow and develop their networks of support and handhold their woman, to seeking, you know, and, and, and, and adhering to health care.
And if there's a case of gender based violence, they are linked to a social crime prevention officer, um, you know, has that is also being capacitated. So there's a relationship that is then being built with the clinical managers. in their communities with the civil society organizations, the nurses and, and, and, and the healthcare workers in the community and with the social welfare, there's, there's always a link and a network lead.
And that has really, really helped with on, on, on the government sector side, that they are reaching a very difficult and hard to reach population group that don't just come out, you know, because of the extent of, of, of stigma. And it's proven to be incredibly successful. These personal links and, and, and, and this trust.
That is informed and nurtured, and we guide them and we support them and we link them as often as we can to ensure that those relationships remain healthy and that they are developed and that we're able to address challenges together and advocate as well. for change, you know, at, at, at more sort of senior, government levels, which also in terms of Stand's work lead right up to, to policy reform.
so, so that's on the, on the project side. It's got a lot to do because we've got so much, you know, a very high prevalence of HIV. positive cases, a very, very high prevalence of, pregnancies and fetal alcohol, syndrome, spectrum disorder, babies being born, um, many, many teen pregnancies. So it's absolutely critical to be able to link them with the necessary services.
And, once we have... Have, you know, done this, we are able then to, to have these women that have largely become abstinent, especially the leaders, because they are given a purpose and they have to attend meetings, where they can actually explain how they need things done and what they need. In order to support them and to be to serve them within their communities.
So they then are taught and, and it's, it's absolutely incredible to see how these women rise. And are able then to stand in front of the very people who arrest them and, or, or, or turn them away from, from clinic services, you know, telling them to come back when they clean, that they dirty and they're able to stand and, and say, look, you know, this, this is me.
I'm a human being. These are my network members. And this is. What we need and what do you need from us? How, how can we change what we're doing to also make your life? easier and the service that you render to us easier. So it's really forging a, a beautiful, healthy relationship. and then as I say, linking to social economic development opportunities.
so that would be working with the municipalities. because they would then have various platforms where these, you know, people would be able to register and get, you know, it's very low paying work, but it is work and we've done a lot of work. To de stigmatize and allow them the opportunity to also work.
But at the same time, we say to them, you know, those of us that work in this world have a responsibility. We've got to turn up. We've, you know, we've got to give it our all. We can't come to work, um, under the influence. We can't fall asleep. You know, we have to, and so it's teaching them a life skill at the same time.
And then once we've done that side of it, we then advocate, you know, more on a, on a provincial or a national level. And also on a global, on a global level. you know, where, I am one of the, the original founders of the World Federation Against Drugs Gender Working Committee. you know, because this is, this is a man, a enormous problem, is the, you know, the stigma attached to women.
And so that's the advocacy side of Stand's work. And then we look at the young people. These, it is very, very sad, Dev, the extent of neglect and violence against children and young people in these communities. So they are severely impoverished. you know, the work is seasonal and obviously, and I'm quite sure you've heard this, you know, post COVID, there's been a significant, yeah, you know, I mean, it's just turned everything upside down.
So, the links to seasonal work are the only hope that many of them have and not, it's, it's, it's only for, you know, a small part of the population group. And then what happens is. They are paid a government grant per child. So what they do is they have more babies to get further government grants and hence the importance of the work that we do to prevent unwanted pregnancies and to prevent the births of fetal alcohol syndrome, or spectrum disorder babies.
And, what, what we do and essentially how that whole project or service came about was. We were approached by a few schools, in the Cape Winelands region saying they are absolutely desperate. They don't know what to do anymore with, with, regards to, to the extent of drug and alcohol use and behavior in the schools.
And is there any way that we could help them? And so what we did was develop a treatment. A treatment service, an early intervention and a treatment service specifically within the context of the rural South African people, because it was very, very important to take into account, you know, the intergenerational trauma, the history, you know, of this country in terms of apartheid.
And, and the, the, the cultural, the cultural beliefs and, and, you know, the violence that is, it's just interwoven into these societies. And so what we did was we just put this very comprehensive trauma informed evidence based model together and we approached the Department of Social Development. And we got the treatment, registered, obviously it needed to comply with the, Substance Abuse Act of the National Substance Abuse Act of South Africa, the minimum norms and standards, uh, for people to be able to go through the program.
Or through the treatment service and what we found when we established, and, and very sadly, we were, we are only able, or were, and I'm going to get to that part, we were only able to. Put it in one school at a time. but the need to actually do this concurrently in, in a number of schools was very apparent, but it also gave us the opportunity to pilot and understand in much more depth what the needs of these children were and.
What we, what we saw, Dave, was, or, or, you know, gained in terms of the data coming out, you know, from, from the social workers and, you know, the counselors working with these children is the level of trauma, and violence that these children are exposed to and how they are using drugs and alcohol to escape this.
It is that extent of trauma and, and, the atrocities, I can't, I actually, I can't go into, in depth, it's, it's too much, but it's trauma. And what we understood is there is no ways that a pure early intervention of teaching them about the harms, teaching them life skills, ensuring that they are linked to the relevant support services, which is the required minimum norm and standard of an early intervention treatment plan.
It was not and is not going to work for them. They need trauma therapy. They need trauma therapy, and then they need to be linked to the relevant, areas of, of support within the, within the system. And once these children actually started. to be held in a therapeutic, a professional therapeutic environment.
Their behavior changed. The teachers and the headmaster kept approaching our, our, therapy team and saying that it is phenomenal to see how the children's behavior has actually changed, how the anger has, has, has left them and how they are, um, what is the word I'm looking for? Their appearance, taking pride in their appearance and the, attendance at school was just so much better and that's the, the need for this type of intervention in a school setting it is so important and very sadly, and I know I'm talking all over the place, Dave, and you're probably going to have to do so much editing to, you know, just to sort of piece this all together.
But, essentially, you know, we tried very, very hard. to, to get the producers, the farm, you know, the farm owners and the producers and the businesses and, you know, everybody behind it. But the minute that they hear there's drugs involved, they run away. And so, you know, very sadly, we had to suspend those services and, you know, in my eyes, that is the worst thing that you can do is implement a service in a community and then, and then have to remove it.
And we, when I spoke at the Africa drug policy week, and I spoke about this specific thing, I spoke about the early intervention, I spoke about, you know, the woman and how we work in terms of reducing harms. I had the deputy minister of social development approach me and say, I had no idea that this is what harm reduction entails.
I really believed it, you know, it, it was only to do with, with, you know, NSP programs and, and, you know, OST programs, et cetera. And this really could be used as a model with, within the South African context, but very sadly, you know, very few of these things come to fruition. But what it did do was it turned on a light, it turned on a light in terms of what does harm reduction mean within the context of our work and, and, and, and how, how do we implement that?
And essentially, you know, it, it is reducing harms on every single sphere. So if a child. needs to be linked to child protection services or the perpetrator of, of, you know, family violence. needs to be removed because of the extent of violence taking place in, in a specific household. You know, the social workers are able to do that.
And hence the fact, you know, that it has to be a registered program, that there has to be statutory services involved. And just because people are poor, Dave, does not mean that they need to have substandard services. And this is the difficult thing for people to actually grasp in terms of the work. You know, what, what, what, what we're needing is, is, is support, is partnership.
And what we're getting is, you know, charity and, you know, a sense of saviorism. And, and this is not what it's about. you know, these, these children are at severe risk and, and some of them sadly, you know, have, have been significantly damaged in the process and they need to be linked to, to support and services.
They need to be removed because many of many. Of the mothers, and fathers are, are also, you know, they're also, way past, you know, dangerous using. They're actually in progressed addiction, you know, largely absent fathers as well. you know, and it's, it's woman headed or child headed households.
There's so much support, there's so much support that is needed. And as I said, you know, very, very few resources. So, Stand's work, it really does kind of, you know, go into all sorts of spheres and avenues to try to get partnership with government, with civil society, you know, with society at large. anybody that actually has some compassion for, for people, for humanity.
And that's essentially the, the, the work of, of Stan. So it's really on many, many tiers.
Dave: I'm curious how you would not even define, but articulate what harm reduction is if you had, say, 30 seconds. to tell somebody about it. They don't have any background or context related to it. But what would be your, your short little spiel to say, Hey, this is what harm reduction is.
Stacey: Great. So harm reduction is reducing harms to drug and alcohol dependent people and walking a path with them to abstinence and reducing harms along the way.
Dave: And if you were to then say where the, the magic, the, the power, the impacts really come from with harm reduction. What would you say?
Stacey: Compassion, non judgement, seeing the person, not the substance. Looking at that person as a human being with compassion and with love and with a will to help them. Give them a leg up and do no harm to them. Do no harm. There's no harm in helping.
Dave: I wonder too, before we start to wind down our conversation, do you have a, I'll call it a success story, a fun highlight, whether it be one of the women or youth, or even just one of the projects that you could share with our listeners. Thank
Stacey: No, there's some beautiful stories, Dev. well, there, there really are some beautiful stories. And I think, you know, if, if, I can take one, and that is of, of a woman that we worked with in a recent project, and I think that's probably why it's springing to mind. This woman was severely beaten, um, traumatized, and addicted.
She was pushed away, turned away by her community. and she was very ill with HIV and somehow the health care workers managed to reach her and she came to our focus group and through the process She was elected a leader. There was some strength that her community saw in her. And she was elected a leader of her network.
And this lady, we started with her at the end of January this year. Since March, she has been completely abstinent. She has started her own car wash little business. She has won funding, um, with her little business plan and, and, and her budget, which she was taught how to put together. And she won the competition and she got a very, very small amount to start her little car wash business, which no one else was doing in her community.
And the community really got behind her and people were bringing their camper vans and you know, they, they, they, they big Land Rovers and it was just. The most beautiful thing to see, she obviously made the decision to leave her husband, because, , he just wanted to continue using and She just could not live in that environment.
So she decided, you know, she was no longer using, she's been abstinent. She's still abstinent. She is still running her car wash business and she is linked and is able to speak, on these platforms. And she's going to become a, an ambassador. for the Department of Social Development, for the gender based violence program, which, you know, they are launching provincially.
And that is, that is a beautiful success story from somebody that just had no hope, no hope, Dev, to realizing who she was, that she had a voice. And just how powerful that voice is and how she can move people within her community to actually also get active and get excited about working and being, you know, entrepreneurial and finding her voice.
And it's, you know, if I look at the. The beginning of the year, footage of her, and I look at her now, I don't recognize her. I don't recognize her. And I mean that in the most beautiful, beautiful, positive way.
Dave: I love it. And I know you have a long list of similar, just as beautiful stories that we could go into, but we're right around that hour mark. So I want to just bring one last question to you before we, we close out this conversation and. That question is, if you were to tell our listeners, if you were gonna remember one thing from this episode, remember this, what would that be?
Stacey: If you are able to step back and observe quietly, with kindness, you are able to see so much more. You are able to understand so much more. You are able to listen so much more.
Dave: Such beautiful, beautiful wisdom. And I wonder what might be a call to action for our listeners that you would, you would offer. .
Stacey: is to please, please get involved with, with, with stand, please support our work. It is desperately needed and please connect with us on our various social media platforms. I'm, I'm sure Dave will share and you'll be able to see the extent of our work. And we really cannot do this. without your support.
Dave: With that last bit of wisdom, I will yet again, thank you, thank you, thank you so much for this, this beautiful conversation that you've shared with, with me and with the world, and we're going all in on. Being you. And doing what you do, I look forward to two more stories, more conversations with you and to, to continue to grow our friendship as well, because together is absolutely better.
Stacey: Dave, thank you so much. I have such enormous gratitude for this, for this opportunity. Thank you. Thank you.
Dave: And listeners check the show notes for links to Stand's website and all of their social media ways you can get connected, stay up to date and help everybody grow, learn and heal together.