Jerry Moe may come to Ghana

Jerry Moe, the National Director of Children’s Programs for the Betty Ford Center, was introduced to Recovery Africa/Hopeful Way by Dr. Al Mooney.  Jerry is a noted and respected professional in the field of addiction, and has been running the Children’s Program for The Betty Ford Center for over 14 years.  Jerry is internationally known as an author, lecturer, and trainer on issues for young children from addicted families.  Mr. Moe is interested in coming to Africa; we would like him to come to Ghana in 2014 to study how we might get children of alcoholics and their families involved in recovery from addiction. 

Dr. Whiters & Darcia Johnson going to Ghana

David Whiters, PhD and Ms. Darcia Johnson, MS, both of whom are people in long-term recovery (29 and 9 years respectively), have expressed an interest in coming to Ghana for a few months.  Due to their very tight schedule, they are hoping that their work in Ghana could begin before the end of the year, 2013. They attribute their recovery to being involved in their 12-step recovery programs, involvement in their church, and their faith in God.  David is certified as an addiction professional and is the founder and former Executive Director of Recovery Consultants of Atlanta, Inc., a faith-based, peer-led Recovery Community Organization.  He has vast experiences with the recovery advocacy movement and transitional housing programs.  Both Dr. Whiters and Ms. Johnson have met with Edwin Ahadzie in Atlanta to discuss how they might assist with the House of St. Francis, at the Oxford House, including the proposed recovery house for women, and with Ghana’s recovery advocacy efforts.  They could also assist us with organizing a faith-based recovery conference in Ghana. 

Hopeful Way Foundation in 2013 (Report to Recoery Africa; Oct. 23, 2013)

In general 2013 has been a good year for Hopeful Way Foundation and its assistance towards recovery efforts in Ghana.  It illustrates that “addiction is not contagious but recovery is.”  A growing number of Ghanaians are living good lives in recovery and are carrying the message to others.  Our objective is not to take on long-term responsibility for running recovery programs but rather to assist, for example, by managing the House of St. Francis for three years and establishing an Oxford House Chapter to take responsibility for overseeing Oxford Houses in Ghana.  We continue to experience excellent collaboration with addiction professionals in Ghana, the U.S. and elsewhere.  The Government of Ghana continues to acknowledge and support our recovery work.  We work closely with the Catholic Archdiocese of Accra, NGOs and other treatment and rehab facilities.  The HWF conducted over ten training sessions during the year which were often facilitated by Ghanaian and visiting professionals.  Over ten 12-step meetings in the greater Accra area are supported by people in recovery in HWF backed facilities. 

Head of the House of St. Francis is in the U.S.

Edwin came to the U.S. in May and has been having wonderful experiences here since that time.  We will get him to write something for this blog.  He is currently on a visit to the Center for the Study of Addiction and Recovery at Texas Tech University and spent about two months studying Recovery Dynamics with Larry Gaines at Serenity Park in Little Rock, Arkansas.  He was then under the care of Dr. Al Mooney and Chris Budnick at the Healing Place of Wake County located in Raleigh, North Carolina.  Edwin then made a presentation at the Oxford House Convention held in Washington, DC and went to Willingway Hospital and the Center for the Addiction Recovery at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Georgia.  He spent time with Emily Eisenhart, Director of the Center for Addiction Recovery and discussed her possible next visit to Ghana in 2014.  Edwin is interested in the new movie "The Anonymous People" which is "out to change the addiction conversation from problems to SOLUTIONS. An independent feature documentary about the over 23 million Americans living in long-term recovery from alcohol and other drug addictions.

Edwin says that Ghana has a lot to learn from the film which  deals with "Deeply entrenched social stigma and mass participation in widely successful anonymous 12-step groups have kept recovery voices silent and faces hidden for decades. The vacuum created by this silence has been filled by sensational mass media depictions of addiction that continue to perpetuate a lurid public fascination with the dysfunctional side of what is a preventable and treatable health condition. Just like women with breast cancer, or people with HIV/AIDS, a grass roots social justice movement is emerging. Courageous addiction recovery advocates have come out of the shadows and are organizing to end discrimination and move toward recovery-based solutions. The moving story of The Anonymous People is told through the faces and voices of the citizens, leaders, volunteers, corporate executives, and public figures who are laying it all on the line to save the lives of others just like them." 

Edwin will try to take a copy of the film to Ghana. 

Sponsor Manuals by John Elford

The Hopeful Way Foundation is experimenting with manuals produced by John Elford.  John wrote for the HWF Blog saying:

The Sponsor Manuals are an approach to teaching the 12 Steps that have been developed to include different models of education and motivation. The main aim of the model was to develop an inexpensive tool that can help facilitate peer lead recovery that is direct and follows a progressive learning curve. This tool can be adapted for groups or individuals and forms a written record of their progress through the Steps.

The books can be greatly enhanced by using motivational interviewing, counselling and CBT techniques. If you have a team of motivated people they can bring the teaching methods alive and create a really dynamic learning environment.

I have added a review posted on amazon.com that sums up the approach very nicely, I have no connection to this person.

 "The author uses a six-point method of teaching to reinforce learning and to increase comprehension and promote awareness of the steps to its fullest extent. I find this approach refreshing and challenging, and an  exciting way to learn, and then to turn around and teach, the 12 steps!

 At first I was skeptical, as it seemed it all might be busywork But after investigating and indulging in the exercises and grids for a full chapter, I found myself to be a true believer and hooked on the educational system presented herein. The book had me searching within myself to define my terms, to come up with my own answers to common phrases.

 I have not yet finished this workbook, but I am taking my time in getting through this work. A work of this caliber deserves honest effort. I was very glad to find this book and add it to my recovery book collection."

 I believe that the workbooks could be a valuable asset in the development of cost effective recovery tools in Ghana and a simple and effective way to formalise the teaching of the 12  Steps. I will do my best to support the great work already started in Africa.

 Dr Mooney and I met when I spent a month in Kentucky last year exploring the range of treatment facilities and approaches to 12 Step Recovery. I was working with Chris Fajardo, my host for the month, on promoting and developing the models that I use and apply to teaching the Steps.

 As my work has developed I have had the privilege of becoming friends with Dr Mooney and recently had the opportunity to promote recovery and the Willingway Foundation here in the UK. We spent time visiting the addiction professionals of Durham County and had the opportunity to visit the many treatment facilities emerging in this area. Time was spent promoting the science behind recovery and the importance of abstinence. You can read more about the details of this on my blog at getintorecovery.com . As a result of this visit there are developments happening across the Atlantic with Durham and the Willingway Foundation and myself and Southampton University.

 Further to this visit there are three prisons now starting to use the Sponsor Manuals in their 12 Step programs and the recovery ambassadors are rolling out an outreach program to the community incorporating the workbooks into this. 

 Further groups and organisations are starting to spring up around the world that are applying the workbooks to teaching the 12 Steps. It is an exciting time for me and the development of a simple yet effective way of teaching the 12 Steps.

 John Elford

Willingway Foundation UK Liaison 
getintorecovery.com

 

Ankaful Twelve-Step Rehab

An objective of the Hopeful Way Foundation is to assist hospitals and recovery institutions in Ghana build the capacity of their members of staff.  One such facility is the Ankaful Twelve-Step Rehab where the late Bill Moore, Larry Gaines, Dr. Al Mooney, Byron Merriweather and others have shared their many years of professional experiences.  Staff of the hospitals have also participated in training programs at the House of St. Francis which have been led by treatment experts.  Mrs. Rejoice Danso heads up the 12-Step Rehab and writes about it below:

 “The 12-step drug/alcohol rehabilitation program of the Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital, Cape Coast was started by Dr. Kojo Sagoe, Clinical Psychologist, PhD and the head of the counseling unit of the hospital.  Assistance was provided by Miss Diana Ahiabor and Mrs. Rejoice Danso (Registered Mental Nurses).

 The program which was started as an outpatient based department in 2009, and gradually moved into an in-house program in 2010.  Clients are housed and fed while  they undergo treatment programs which last from three months to one year.

 For the past three years, over 100 clients (addicts and alcoholics) have been helped with a success rate of 60%.  And for the past one year, free workshops organized by the Hopeful Way Foundation have improved  the knowledge of the staff in the treatment of addiction.”

 Rejoice Danso

Edwin Speaks at Convention

From 29 August to 1 September, 2013, Edwin A. represented Ghana at the 15^th Annual Oxford House World Convention held in Washington, DC.  Over 700 people participated in the gathering.  As former president of the Hopeful Way Oxford House and the chief executive officer of the House of St. Francis, Edwin spoke at the breakout session on International Houses.  He said that he gives thanks to Oxford House for being clean and sober today.  He added that “before moving into the house on 31 January, 2011 I had been going in and out, in and out of psychiatric hospitals for many years.  One day some visitors came to the hospital and told me that there was something called a 12-step solution to addiction that was practiced in the Oxford House.  The guys asked me to come and join them and I did because I had been in the hospital for one and a half years and the doctors were telling me to leave.  I was filled with fear of relapse when arriving at the house.  Soon I was elected secretary and treasurer because there were only four of us living in the house.  After some months I became president and was responsible for enforcing the rules and carrying the 12-step recovery method to hospitals.  About 40 residents have lived in the house during the past three years. I was there for two years and another member has been there for three years.  We follow the main Oxford House concepts in Ghana but do a few things differently.  For example, if someone is found to be smoking, it is considered to be a relapse because Ghanaian culture relates smoking to the use of drugs.  We also have a big challenge in finding employment for members of the house who numbered 12 at one time last year.  I am presently working at the House of St. Francis, a three-month treatment facility that sends clients to the Oxford House.  A second house exists in a remote area of Ghana but at present has no members.  This will soon change and a house for women will open before the end of the year.  An Oxford House Chapter is also being put in place with the help of an Oxford House representative in Ghana.  Finally I thank Oxford House, Inc. for inviting me to the convention and for making it possible for Byron Merriweather to help us in Ghana where the Oxford House idea of recovery without relapse is being firmly established.”