Mobile Counselling Launch

Today was one of those days where we will be taking the Advice Support service to another level in collaboration with 4 other Non-profit organisations and supported by Department of Social Development. The Substance Abuse Mobile Counselling pilot project will investigate the use of cellphones as a counselling and support medium for people who are impacted by substance abuse.

All the NGOs came together today for the oficial launch of the mobile counselling pilot and having a group of people working together, coming from different backgrounds was amazing to experience as the dream and vision for establishing many of these Reconstructed Living Lab spaces across South Africa are moving towards becoming a reality. Although all the mobile counsellors from the various organisations came together for the launch at the Impact Centre, the group will be working remotely with the support hub being at the birth place of Advice Support Network at IDM's Impact Centre.


With all the excitement in the air and representatives from different organisations coming together through the purpose of using cellphones for social change seeing the impact the session of the launch had on those in need of support was incredible. During the first two hour session of the pilot, 103 subscribers made contact with us and 2034 messages were sent to people in need of support in the area of drug addiction.

The best part of this good start is that it is only the beginning as we will see more lives be reconstructed through people and the use of technology.

Youth Marketing for Non profits

With the increased number of organisations especially non-profits looking at how they can engage with young people the video below, by Graham Brown of Mobile Youth, gives an insightful overview of what these organisations can do to reach their youth target market. The Reconstructed Project also featured in this video as we continue spreading the message of hope amongst our young people in South Africa.

BBC Interview - Drug Advice Support

Tuesday afternoon (25 August 2009) we had the privilege to share our experiences on how we using mobile phones to support people impacted by the problem of drugs. I had an interview on the BBC World Service and you can listen to it online. The interview about Drug Advice Support (DAS) starts at 42:32 (See image for guidance) on the BBC iPlayer.

Drug Advice Support - Interview with Advisors

Interview with the BBC

Tomorrow Drug Advice Support will be featured on the BBC World Service - News Hour Radio programme at 12h06 GMT / 14h06 (South African time). This is a wonderful opportunity to share our experiences of how mobiles phones can be used as tools to support the needs of people in need. You can listen live and get more information here

Featured in New Scientist Magazine - More facts...

It was a privilege to be featured in this month's New Scientist Magazine, however there were some key information that was excluded from the article and I would like to make mention of it here:

- The service Drug Advice Support (DAS) service helps people across South Africa and have a counsellor base of 19 volunteers
- Wesley Nitsckie is the lead developer on the project working closely with the community as co-developers.
- The leading Community organisation who run the service is Impact Direct Ministries who are based in Bridgetown and partner is Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT)
- The HIV service has been launched in collaboration with the National AIDS Helpline, Lifeline in association with Cell Life.


Many thanks to all who contribute to the success of this project and the community of Bridgetown.

Drug Advice Support going strong

Looking back at how the project has grown not just in number of subscribers but also our advisors on the Drug Advice Support (DAS) is so encouraging. Today as the guys were setting up (see image above) and getting ready to run DAS it is so exciting to see the passion that our advisors have to reconstruct the lives of thousands of people accross our nation. I know that the sacrifices the advisors have made are not in vain and we are seeing the fruits of their labour.

A year ago the team offering advice support on DAS
Well done to the Reconstructed Team for changing the world of citizens of our nation using technology.

The Art of Mobile Counselling - Part 1

After an exciting week of training with National AIDS Help Line in South Africa who supports thousands every month with the issue of HIV/AIDS we managed to get 6 of their counsellors all geared up for Chat Counselling using mobile phones. Although all of the participants were qualified counsellors we had to teach the difference in counselling approach via mobile phones. We will be sharing some of our thoughts over the next few weeks of what the necessary skills are to make the best of the mobile medium. Our experience with the Drug Advice Support (DAS) counselling service has taught us that Mobile phones as a medium the following is a few suggestions to consider:

- Mobile chat environment has its own culture and language

- Less is best, the counsellor have to use as little text to get the maximum message

- “Hi” is a conversation, for many just a simple "hi" is a conversation that makes them feel connected in some way.

- Communicate in characters not words. Many of the mobile chat users communicate using characters to make the most of the small screen and limited number of characters per screen

We are looking forward seeing the progress of the National AIDS Helpline as they make use of our technology to support thousands accross South Africa.

A year of Drugs, Sex & Mobile Phones

One year has passed and so many things has happened since we "officially" launched Drug Advice Support (previously known as idmtalk). Drug Advice Support (DAS) is one of our large projects, part of our Living Lab activity, and it emerged out of a need in a community that were experiencing the scourge of drug addiction and violence. Using men and women from the community we started a journey that will change our lives and thousands others forever. This service uses mobile phones as a medium to connect with people all across South Africa offering advice and support to those in need (Mobile Active description of DAS).

Since then we've been in more than 50 articles (that we are aware of!!), 3 television appearances, more than 20 radio interviews and we still believe that we have so much to offer of how technology can be used to make a difference in the lives of many. We've had our server crash, got a team from UWC (Wesley and Paul) using the Chisimba platform as a basis for DAS to co-develop with the community a system that could support the large number of requests. With 19 registered advisors (4 Full time)who all come from the local community of Bridgetown, Cape Town, South Africa the following are some indication of what was achieved during 250 hours online (31 July 2009):

- Number of Subscribers: 9,193
- Number of Messages: 746,440
- Number of Conversations : 30,685
- Number of Conversations related to drugs: 18,963
- Average number of conversations per session: 30,685 / 250 hours = 122.5 per hour or 245 per session
- Maximum number of conversations 473 and the Minimum 21
- Average number of Messages = 1422 per session (Max 3678, Min 234)
- Average number of conversations per Advisor in a session = 24 (Min 4, Maximum 56)

Other interesting statistics were:

- TiK (Crystal Meth) was the most popular drug with 6637 related conversations followed by Heroin with 3223.
- 13% [1211] of subscribers were using this service to get support for a family member.
- 4% [403] of Subscribers are getting offline help/support or counselling after using the service (This is known cases through feedback conversations).




This clearly shows us an example of where mobile phones can be used for social good and make the difference in the lives of literally thousands in a nation. Bare in mind that all this was done with very little resources bu a group of extraordinary individuals passionate about reconstructing their communities.
So through all of this we cried and laughed together, celebrated when DAS subscribers were victorious and saddened when they were struggling, but we've made it and we are still standing. So what makes this year so special that others want to read or hear about it? Simple it is about people caring about other people and giving the little that they have to see lives being Reconstructed. A special thanks to the team of DAS who makes this more than a project of Drugs, Sex and Mobile Phones, but one of where we united can make a difference in our communities and nation.

Drug Advice Support Featured in Business Times

With the Drug Advice Support (DAS) service growing and so much more people to reach we once again featured in a prominent South African News Paper The Business Times yesterday. The article titled "MXit put to some good use" written by Toby ShapShak can be read below:

MXIT, the cellphone instant messaging service best known for chatting teenagers, is now being used to help drug users on the Cape Flats kick their habit.
In the service, based in Bridgetown in Athlone, former drug users who counsel tik addicts use the messaging service as a primary method of support.
The project, which has been running for about a year, is the brainchild of a remarkable young man, Marlon Parker.
Parker, now an information technology lecturer at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology where he’s doing his PhD, grew up on the Cape Flats and directly experienced the consequences of drug abuse when his brother was jailed for dealing tik, a highly-addictive methamphetamine drug.
Drug users can “chat” with the services’ counsellors when they feel the urge to use, says Parker. It is the first step in a rehabilitation programme run with nongovernmental organisation Impact Direct. Read more

A True Hero

This evening as I was reflecting an exciting day presenting at the SAFIPA conference and being part of this year's Mail & Guardian Young South Africans to take to lunch I realised who are our true heroes. Its those who are in our communities who silently are making a difference daily in the lives of other people.



With so many extraordinary individuals around us, I would like to commend and honour one of our Reconstructed Team members for putting others before himself. Craig "King" Ross lost his father yesterday and the sudden loss of a father, husband and friend is a very traumatic experience. Craig selflessly came to offer support today via our Drug Advice Support (DAS) service helping many people (1293 messages today alone) across the nation even though he lost his father. The manner which he serves his community and others in South Africa is incredible. Yet very few people would give credit to the work he is doing and the lives he is touching and this without expecting anything in return. Therefore this post is to honour Craig for showing us what true Reconstruction is all about that he would put others before himself in the midst of a time of mourning for the Ross family.

He is a true example of a son for his father the late Mr. Ross and we know that he will carry on a legacy through the work he is doing reconstructing communities. Craig "King" Ross you are a true hero to many and your father is proud of you. Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family during this time.

Drug Advice Support (DAS): Why we do what we do

Wherever we go to share the story of Drug Advice Support people always ask why are we doing what we are doing and what is our payment. People are amazed that this is a community initiative that has been running since 2008 and touching the lives of thousands of people. Just reading the messages below encourages us to persevere and not give up knowing we are seeing more lives being reconstructed.

[2009-05-28 17:49:17] User: Hi dare n hey i wnt 2 thank u abt ur wrds nw im proud of wht i am n al the suicidal thoughts r gone keep up da gud wrk.

[2009-06-01 17:23:32] User: Just thought i'd let you guys know i've been clean for a month now - thanx for the help!

With thousands of people having their lives transformed through such a noble service we know that we cant stop what we are doing but only look for ways to improve what we've started.

Firstly, a special thank you to all the men and women who are sacrificing their lives for the sake of others. To the people from the community who support this initiative sharing their resources (plate of food, a note of thanks, hot cup of tea/coffee for advisors and people at Impact centre) your contributions are priceless, Impact Direct Ministries for allowing us to utilise your space and resources, to the team of developers who along with the community are breaking new ground as we journey together you are changing many lives, to DELL South Africa Development Fund for their generous sponsorship your donation is priceless.

First Week with the new Drug Advice Support (DAS)

Today was the first week with our new DAS hours and it was interesting to see the number of conversations and users who were seeking support for substance abuse or social related issues. The new DAS hours of operation are Mondays to Thursdays and Saturdays 4 to 6pm. The following were the number of users per day for this week:

Monday: 93 users
Tuesday: 114 users
Wednesday: 86 users
Thursday 101 users
Saturday 59 users

The number of users serviced this week were a total of 453 users. The numbers were lower than our normal average per day but the conversations were more meaningful as we had a number of serious users who were in desperate need. The new hours are all thanks to the DELL South African Development Fund's donation that we received last week.

Drug Advice Support: Service stats

Today we've achieved 201 subscribers through the Drug Advice Support (DAS) system and served 2314 messages.

Below is an extract of a paper we are writing about the DAS system which will give you an idea of the number of subscribers we currently servicing:

"The results extracted from DAS solution shows that such a system can be useful for relieving tension. Advisors have the capacity to help more people (n=27) in a 2 hour session than that of help-lines (n=4) (Impact Direct Ministries, 2009). Since its inception and at the end of April 2009 DAS served approximately 87,624 messages amongst its 6,377 subscribers. A total of 16,609 conversations between persons in need and advisors took place over a period of 186 hours of being online and available.

During a DAS session, 2 hours duration, the average number of conversations is 178 which equates to an average of 943 messages. This is normally managed on average by 5 advisors using the DAS system. The maximum number of conversations achieved was 471 and this was the week after the appearance on national television. The least number of conversations was 21 and this was due to running the service on a public holiday. The most messages exchanged in a DAS session were 3678 with a minimum of 234 messages.

Majority of the conversations (62.3%) was related to substance abuse issues. (See Figure 1) shows the distribution related to substance types with the most popular drug query being “Tik” or “Crystal Meth”. General drug queries were where subscribers just needed generic information about the services and general substance abuse queries."

The above stats is a clear indication of how technology can be used to support communities in tension.

Welcome Mother DAS

For the past few weeks we had a new addition to the Drug Advice Support (DAS) family, Rae Goedeman (in picture with Bradley Naidoo). She has really been so helpful and the advice and support she is giving is really changing many lives. Not only is the support to those in need but also to the rest of the Reconstructed team. Definitely much more to look forward to from our Mother Advice Support.

Drug Advice Suppport (DAS) - Server Expansion needed

Well after managing the amount of conversations with our upgraded server the amount of requests for access to the service has increased over the past week. We are back to 250 conversations in an hour and our new server couldnt handle the amount of requests from the users (See images for Network Traffic and CPU Usage). This means that in a session we could easily reach 500 plus subscribers. This does indicate that we need to expand and enhance our servers, which we hope to do in the next few days. We are happy with the growth DAS has indicated and we hope to reach our 10 000 subscriber mark within the next few months.

Advice Support Network latest

Today should be an interesting day as we are testing our Drug Advice Support (DAS) on a new server. We are hoping to see if the performance will be improved as we've been experiencing problems with our old server lately. We've also seen an influx of requests to the service over the past few weeks and looking forward to see the expansion plans being executed over the next few weeks.

We have been running this service between 3 and 5pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays since its inception due to restricted resources. We currently have 19 advisors registered on the Advice Support Network and are hoping to achieve the following expansion plans:

1. Increase hours by 100% (New Proposed hours of 4pm to 8pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays)- Implementation Date [14 April 2009]

2. Increase number of Advisors online in session by 50% (We've acquired the equipment needed to implement this) - [May 2009]

3. Advisors Hub Model Completed - [May 2009]

4. Increase days by 50% (Start offering service on a Saturday as well) - [May 2009]



The above are some of the expansion plans on the horizon.

New Drug Advice Support (DAS)...

Today we stepped into a new era of Drug Advice Support (DAS). With new changes to the system to improve usability and to ensure that we reach as many who requires our help it was an exciting day. Today DAS served 1500 messages and we had 130 conversations in our 2 hour session. This was distributed between 5 advisors. With more exciting developments coming we definitely taking a step in the right direction as we prepare for the roll out nationally.

Drug Advice Support (DAS) through Second Life...

Well after much consideration and with the hope that we can link into the Second Life (SL) Instant Messanger (IM), we will be investigating the possibilities of linking our Drug Advice Support (DAS) system with SL. This will allow us to communicate to subscribers through a Avatar in the SL Virtual Environment. This will present us with another possible market of people who might be in need of advice and support.

Quick update on DAS, I just added another 102 subscribers. We've had some comments that DAS should be available after our 5pm deadline. We hope to extend this time when we manage to get support with infrastructure and other resources...

What lies ahead for Drug Advice Support (DAS)?

Well after over a year of concept and development with the Drug Advice Support (DAS) system how far have we journeyed and what lies ahead of us. We celebrate a year of Advice Support, although it only went live August 2008, we've seen change and innovation through this process.

What began as a little experiment to serve a small community would capture the imagination of a nation. DAS began with little idea exactly how it will be done but the sole purpose of the concept was to ensure the well being of its users. From early beginnings in 2007 the idea came about using technology in counselling. With a group of dedicated community developers we began this journey and not only saw the lives of people in need reconstructed but also the co-development of the Advice Support Network.

So since then we've reached out to citizens affected by the problem of substance abuse, HIV and AIDS and offering Career Advice and Support using our Advice Support Network. Now that we've managed to show how useful this technology is as an enabler to support counseling we are ready for the next step in our journey. We are planning to expand the service to other parts of South Africa in order to support citizens in need across our nation. For more about this project in the media read...