How to be glamorous...

Well how do you become glamorous and appear in one of South Africa's premier women magazines? Simple, use what you have and make a difference in the lives of others. The Drug Advice Support (DAS) appears in the Cosmopolitan Magazine March 2009 edition Page 60. The article is by Glynis Horning and extracts of it can be read below...

"A pioneering addiction-advice
service using MXit has been
launched by Cape Town
IT buff Marlon Parker, 30,
who got the idea when working on his
PhD thesis. 'Exploring how technology
facilitates change, I found that the
most commonly used technology in
all communities is cellphones,' says the
Cape Peninsula University of Technology
lecturer. He also found that one of the
biggest needs for young people in his
area, the Cape Flats, is drug counselling
that allows them to stay anonymous.
'I thought, why not use MXit?'
Parker launched a pilot programme
early last year, operating out of Impact
Direct Ministries Centre, a local NGO in
Bridgetown, and using recovered addicts
and ex-gang members. What began as
five volunteers giving advice in text chats
with local substance users has grown
to 12 volunteers helping everyone from
students to young professionals 'from
Athlone to Sandton, even rural villages
in Limpopo!..."

"...'We answer what questions we
can, then direct people who need it
to their nearest source of face-to-face
counselling,' says adviser Monique
Theron, 25, who was an addict for eight
years. 'Most people just need to hear
that they're not alone, that we've been
where they are, and that it is possible to
get out of it - even if you're suicidal like
I was. Becoming suicidal is what finally
got me to go to the Impact Centre for
counselling, and it changed me. If I'd just
had to SMS, I could have done it sooner
and saved my family so much pain.'..."


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