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Kota Kinabalu: The Society of Renewal Life Centre, which treats drug addicts and
alcoholics, may well be the first halfway house-cum-rehabilitation centre in
Sabah.
It has enjoyed a fair rate of success with more than half the 84 inmates it has
treated since its inception in 2005 doing much better now.
The centre, which was set up on June 1, 2005 and situated in Taman Judy,
Menggatal, caters to only non-Muslim men as it adopts a holistic and Christian
spiritual approach to care for its inmates who number 32, aged between 22 and
80, presently.
Operating in a rented home, Pastor William Chin, who was formerly a drug addict
himself, runs the centre with the help of |
his wife Michelle Chin and several workers to help the inmates kick
their habits.
"We do not give promises to cure the inmates but we are trying our best using
our religious and counseling approaches with the permission of their parents and
family members.
"The biggest challenge for us is to get the inmates to turn over a new leaf and
return to their families and society because quite a number of them did try to
escape from the centre through the roof and windows.
"Following this, we have installed a 8-foot fencing at the centre to prevent the
inmates from running away. We will never give up on them and will continue
treating them as long as their families permit us to do so," he said here,
Thursday.
Chin said this when met during a one-day joint program between the centre and
National Anti-Drug Agency (Nada) at the center's premises.
Two talks were organized besides several testimonials from the inmates of the
centre.
"Inmates are admitted to the centre when their parents or guardians bring them
to us to be treated. We do collect maintenance fees from their parents or
guardians for the upkeep of the centre but for those who can't afford, they only
pay a minimal fee," said Chin, adding that the centre provides five meals a day
to the inmates and spends about RM80,000 per month to operate the centre.
"We are just a non-profit organization through public donations and generous
sponsorships, including RM163,000 from the Ian Ferguson Foundation, Hong Kong,
the centre now has a van to run errands and is able to do renovations at the
centre."
He said some of the inmates were sent to the centre through the recommendation
of Hospital Mesra Bukit Padang as it does not have enough space to cater to all.
According to Chin, the centre is registered with Nada as all their methods as
well as approaches to treat and counsel the inmates are recognized.
"Actually, we only treat the inmates for the period of two years but if the
parents or guardians want us to keep more than two years, we can consider that.
"This is because we would know whether the inmates have progressed or not as we
monitor and care for them daily," he said.
Among their daily activities, he said, are morning exercises, Bible studies,
praying and worshipping, as well as doing daily chores like washing their
clothes and tidying up their beds.
Chin said they also involve the inmates in social and recreational activities
such as being active in certain sports games and attend seminars like on
motivation, religious and leadership talks.
He and his wife adopted the treatment and counseling methods from their stay in
a halfway house called "House of Victory" in Kuala Lumpur before they set up the
centre here.
In addition, he said, he visits other halfway houses elsewhere like in Taiwan to
gain more knowledge and experiences in treating drug addicts.
Source:
Daily Express
Date: October 16, 2009
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