Peer Education: An Indian Experience…A Nada India Presentation
Duration: 11.03 minutes
Transcription of the narration in the movie
The moving life stories of two Dayanands reveal their indomitable courage. While the first Dayanand, from rural Delhi had a history of drug abuse, the second Dayanand was a victim of alcohol. As recovering addicts both had a common mentor- Suneel Vatsyayan -first in Navjyoti, Delhi Police foundation and later with Nada India. Both Dayanands had graduated from, what a journalist called- ‘the university of pain’ and had faced social rejection, stigma and discrimination. They volunteered to become peer support counselors and worked hard in empowering their peers-till the first Dayanand died at 39 of cancer and Dayanand Sharma of AIDS at the age of 46. The visit of Dr .Michael O Smith, founder of NADA International to Navjyoti Delhi Police Foundation was the beginning of a new intervention in the treatment programme in Navjyoti and later in many drug treatment programmes across India. Recovering persons trained in Navjyoti in peer support counseling under a UNODC programme helped them to start treatment centers in many parts of North India. This also led to social entrepreneurship by recovering addicts. The establishment of ARPAN - by them in peer support programmes. Dr. Smith and NADA India have popularized the Acu-detox programme in many a jail- Sabarmati jail in Ahmedabad---- Baroda central jail in Barod, both in the state of Gujarat -- Indore jail in Madhya Pradesh and Tihar jail in Delhi. / And in state police departments in India and Nepal. The NADA Acu detox has also been introduced in the Border Security Force one of India’s premier para military forces.
During his visit to India in early 2015 Dr. Smith assessed the activities of Nada India in the Mandi and Chatterpur slum clusters. He was happy that the Nada India training programmes are interpersonal and down to earth unlike training a group of urban youth with their elitist attitude. Here the trainers spend time in the community and understand their concerns. They in turn identify and train junior counselors. According to Dr. Smith this is in tune with a WHO report on the food habits of the poor. Nada peer counselors help the people to prevent and cope with a number of non communicable diseases. These include substances abuse, high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes. A regular intake of frozen or processed food would result in many a non communicable disease. So the efficacy of simple Indian vegetarian diet in preventing these non communicable diseases is worth emulating, feels Dr. Smith....
Making of the film
This is not a professionally shot and produced film. In fact all the footage used in this film is collected from various sources and shot and broadcast in different video formats. Except the editor no one involved in the production is a practicing film maker. Thanks to Suneel Vatsyayan's meticulous documentation and collection of still and video films we could put together a story which is based entirely on actuality.
For me this has been a labor of love and a bit of nostalgia. I have been closely associated with Suneel ,Navjyoti, Substances abuse prevention, peer education ,Nada and acu-detox pioneered by Dr. Michael .O.Smith, both the Dayanands featuring in this film were closely known to me.
So, when Suneel asked me to help out to make this, despite being no longer an active script writer and narrator[ I think I did my last film almost two decades back!]. I readily agreed.
The film is a saga of Suneel's single minded devotion to a cause, commitment, persistence and perseverance with wholehearted support and guidance from Dr. Smith.
The film is for you to see not as professional film critics but as companions and co workers in prevention and peer education.
Best wishes and happy viewing !
Prof. T.K. Thomas
Nada India volunteer