The Asian Recovery Symposium is an annual event conducted by the founders
of the 'Columbo Plan Bureau' ; an international NGO based in Sri Lanka's
capital city, Columbo. It is a pioneer organisation within the cluster of
de-addiction support organisations in Asia. Its primary goal is grouping,co-ordinating and strengthening all efforts against substance addiction and its
treatment.
Two of our trainee
peer-support counsellors, Mr. Goverdhan Joshi and Mr. Sanjeev Kodan (who are
both recovering addicts) travelled to Pakistan to attend the seventh annual
'Asian Recovery Symposium'. Our keen trainees were delighted to recieve this
chance to embark on a fantastic learning experience. They were highly
optimistic that this event would be a gem-of-an-oppurtunity to expand on their
knowledge regarding substance addiction counselling for the recovering
induvidual.
Hundreds of ex-addicts, advice & support
professionals and trainee counselling personnel from South and South-East Asia
gathered in the capital city, Islamabad to take part in a weekend-long
conference, series of talks and educational seminars from the 12th - 14th April
2014. The event's main focus was geared at raising awareness of the destructive
impact of active addiction, the individual's transition into recovery and the
wealth of support strategies a recovering addict can encounter to strengthen
and maintain a clean and serene life.
The Symposium hosted a range
of activities such as one-on-one 'meet & greet' sessions with professional
support workers with years of valuable and extensive experience in the field of
recovery. Our SHAFA team met with the leaders of the event and remarked how
focused and determined the organisers were to ensure the A.R.S would be a
fruit-bearing success for all attendees.
The event also hosted
counsellor training seminars wherein our very own Mr. Sanjeev Kodan was an
active and conscientious participant. As a counselling ambassador representing
SHAFA HOME, he expressed how "these sessions gave light upon a variety of
useful and implementable tools to construct a healthy relationship with the
recovering addict so that the counsellee would be able to trust his/her
counsellor, openly share their fears and apprehensions and trust their
counsellor to give reliable and pertinent advice.
The 7th A.R.S also involved
members' individual speeches regarding their own journies into recovery. Our
Mr. Goverdhan Joshi brought his own addiction & recovery experience before
the eagerly attentive hall. He eloquently spoke of his own harrowing life in
active addiction , his courageous transition into recovery and how he met with
the helping hand of SHAFA HOME's team of dedicated and unconditionally
supportive counsellors. He went on to add "how important it is to face
life's challenges head on without dissolving into feeling overwhelmed and
admitting defeat...each sober day is a resounding success and miracle. This
triumph must be recognised and celebrated because life in recovery is God's
gift.
All-in-all, this was a
smashing experience for our trainees! It had been a superb chance for them to
enrich upon their own recoveries as well as enhancing their counselling skills.
They were filled with fresh ideas of how they would pass their HOPE,
STRENGTH AND COURAGE to the newly
recovering addict.
To view more pic's click on the link below :-
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.286783751485204.1073741947.150155235148057&type=3&uploaded=44
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.286783751485204.1073741947.150155235148057&type=3&uploaded=44
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