LEVUKA - giving hope to suffering alcoholics
Over the first three years of operation, it became clear that a majority of the Jamii Bora members had at least one suffering alcoholic in their families. The suffering alcoholic was holding the family back when they were striving to get out of poverty. A drunken son or husband would steal the small income of the mother, thus preventing her from running her business in a successful way. The alcoholic family member would often seriously injure himself and the family would incur major medical costs that also affected their livelihoods. Many members who are the sole income earner and managers of the small family business were regularly beaten up and not able to manage their business for days and weeks.

It became increasingly clear to us that alcoholism and drug addiction was a wide spread disease among the poorest families and created enormous suffering among our members. Jamii Bora therefore introduced the LEVUKA programme in October 2003. Levuka is a Kiswahili word meaning “to become sober”.  In less than a year the Levuka programme has had a major impact in our membership. The programme has three major components:

1.Training of Levuka promoters
Interested members are trained to promote the Levuka principles of a sober life in their neighbourhood. They are trained to understand the problem of the suffering alcoholic and what it takes to take him or her out of that problem. They are also trained to understand the problems of families with an alcoholic. Thus they can advise and encourage families to seek help, and they can explain what help is available and how it works. Our out-reach awareness programme is now very strong and hundreds of Levuka groups are meeting several times a week in different slums and plantations to give encouragement and support to each other.

2.Out-patient treatment of suffering alcoholics and drug addicts
Our counsellors have all been suffering alcoholics themselves, gone through treatment and become sober. They have received professional counselling training and are providing treatment of very many alcoholics from member families. The results have been very encouraging.

3.In-patient (residential) treatment of suffering alcoholics and drug addicts
Jamii Bora refers members of our Levuka clubs to inpatient treatment at established treatment centres. The families can take special Levuka loans in Jamii Bora’s micro finance programme for these treatments. Jamii Bora has also in 2004 purchased a piece of land and is planning to establish the first Jamii Bora Levuka in-patient centre.