Mauritius: Centre de Solidarité Pour Une Nouvelle Vie helping to combat alcohol addiction

Centre de Solidarité Pour Une Nouvelle Vie (CDS) is an NGO created in 1988.  Its goal is to reduce drug and alcohol addiction in Mauritius.  To achieve its goal, CDS offer various services and therapeutic treatment.  We have our Prevention Unit in Curepipe, our counselling units, that is, individual, group and family based in Rose-Hill and our Residential Centre in Solitude

CDS provides treatment, rehabilitation and reintegration services to people who are addicted to drugs and alcohol in day care and residential care. CDS also offers accompaniment to the parents of their beneficiaries. There is a prevention unit located in Curepipe. CDS does awareness campaigns across educational institutions and businesses and also in neighbourhoods, to talk about the harms of drugs and alcohol.

CDS works towards the respect and support human rights and non-discrimination policy.

CDS launched a «Projet Homme» which stipulates the following principles:

• Every human has in its inner self an internal resilience, which enables him to reach beyond its present capabilities and take its life in his hands. «Toi seul le peut, mais pas seul» (only you can do it, but you cannot do it alone)

Centre de Solidarité’s vision is to see a future society where drugs has been eliminated, where ex drugs addict, ex alcoholic person and HIV/Aids patients are treated equally; where individual are not judged by other because of their past.

The mission is to eliminate the psychic and existential torments to help the person restore a healthy life and rediscover values and direction of his life. We would like to see each patient completing successfully the programme, reintegrating the society and living as every normal individual in the society.

• Offers various services and therapeutic treatment
• Have their Prevention Unit in Curepipe
• Counselling units, that is, individual, group and family based in Rose-Hill and our Residential Centre in Solitude
• Raise awareness on equal remuneration/working hours of women and men

The results are measured by a monitoring and evaluation team through a Performance management system (PMS)

Challenges:

• There is not always an equilibrium of gender in terms of sharing of ideas
• Well-trained interns tend to leave after a while for another jobs

Challenges overcome:

• Review the rewarding schemes of employees that may persuade them to stay by making use of the institution’s PMS
• Provide staff with clarity of aims and focus on job expectation
• Help focus on the desired results
• Uncover training needs
• Establish internal equity
• Provide direction in achieving departmental goals
• Links best practices to live organisational values

The impact made by CDS work has been at a national level whereas public was made aware of the issue of drugs in Mauritius. The impact is such that today CDS benefits from funding from corporate social responsibility as well as under governmental actions. The work of CDS may inspire other campaigns to be formed at a community-based level that aims to create a drug-free social environment