Since the mid 1980’s, heroin has been available in the towns along the Kenyan coast. The impact of heroin and other drug use has had dramatic consequences for the local communities in the form of increased HIV transmission through unsafe sex and shared needles, increased crime to support drug habits, and a growing number of people facing illness, imprisonment, and death.

In response, The Omari Project (TOP) was established in 1995 to provide education and services to addicts, families, and communities.  It is one of only 2 drug detox facilities in sub-Saharan Africa.  TOP is a non-governmental organization created with technical and financial support from The Bristol Drugs Project, the British Council, and it reports to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes..

Current services include a residential treatment facility as well as community outreach programs in education, prevention, and rehabilitation. Areas of focus are drug detoxification and HIV/AIDS prevention. In partnership with a local doctor, TOP has developed expertise in the management of withdrawal. Top uses a combination of pharmaceuticals, counseling, and rehabilitative activities.

TOP receives strong community support, and works to test and adapt rehabilitation approaches that have been successful elsewhere. Acupuncture is one tool not currently available to addicts in Kenya that has been used successfully in Europe and the US.

In December 2007, Real Medicine Foundation (RMF) Whole Health Team Project Coordinator Megan Yarberry met with staff and clients of The Omari Project. TOP Project Coordinator Shosi Mohammed shared information about the project’s history, treatment protocols, and challenges.

“The Omari Project staff is a dedicated group of people with real concern and commitment for the health of the local community” says Yarberry. “They have a strong organizational foundation and expertise in the management of withdrawal that would be even more effective with the addition of a proven treatment tool like acupuncture.”

In May, the Real Medicine Foundation’s Whole Health Team will provide acupuncture training to workers from The Omari Project and Tawfiq Hospital. The training will include the NADA’s 5-needle protocol.

The acupuncture training will take one week, and the RMF team will facilitate on-going technical and material support for The Omari Project. After the training, The Omari Project staff will be able to provide acupuncture services to its clients on an on-going basis, with technical and material support from the Real Medicine Foundation.

The Real Medicine Foundation is currently gathering support for this project in the form of supplies and financial donations.

If you would like to contribute to this effort, please click on the link below to help make a difference.

Beth Cole, Director of RMF’s Whole Health Team, can be contacted at her email
Megan Yarberry can be contacted at myarberry@turquoise.net

You can help by donating here, and specifying 'Kenyan OMARI Project' in the Note to Real Medicine.

Please help us to help!