The campaign against drug abuse is a long, thankless and often lonely fight. Many wonder why one would want to do it yet people seem to be abusing alcohol and other drugs like never before.

The age of abuse also seems to be lowering by the day making the whole exercise akin to the proverbial trying to block water from leaking from a dam using ones fingers to block the holes. A seemingly futile exercise.

Yet as one sticks in their fingers and new holes appear elsewhere if someone else were to appear to stick in their fingers and there were enough people to match the holes, the dam would remain intact.

Unfortunately not many people would wish to take part in an exercise which by its very enormity seems doomed to failure right from the word go. People do not like associating themselves with exercises they feel are set to fail right from the outset.

This makes drug abuse campaigners especially precious for there are not that many around to start with so whenever one is lost it is a double tragedy - to the family and to the nation.

We recently lost one such inderfatigable fighter whose loss is going to be seriously felt in in Kenya in general and at the coast in particular.

Muraad Saad from the coast will be remembered by many. Love him or hate him, he fought tirelessly for the heroin addicts at the coast, which incidentally has the highest concentration of them. I remember once when I was at the coast talking to community elders about what they felt should be done about the heroin addicts and they were almost unanimous that they should be thrown into the sea for there was no helping a heroin addict. You could not help addicts - they were beyond help

This was the kind of talk which infuriated Muraad. This attitude was what he dedicated his life to fighting and it is for this that we at the goinghomedotcom Trust have decided to institute in his memory a 'Heroes Corner' to celebrate those who have "gone home".

Yet I am here. I was helped. I am a recovering alcoholic. I am an addict. Once people (including often, myself) thought I was beyond help. But others such as Muraad believed otherwise. They were right.

Though we will dedicate this corner in his memory it will list others who have gone before him.

As my wife Eileen and I discussed this Heroes Corner this evening we agreed that it would not be a place of mourning, but instead a place where we would celebrate those who had Gone Home after fighting the good fight. It would be a place those remaining could visit from time to time in those moments when we felt our energy flagging and those low times when we sometimes tormented ourselves with questions like "what is the point?", "is there any use?" and "it's like trying to empty the ocean with a tea spoon."

Visitng here and celebrating battles well fought should rejuvinate those flagging or despairing - for ultimately we all Go Home but while you are still 'Going Home' whatdo you do each day?

You need not ever let the numbers overwhelm you. For you as long as we continue "touching lives through inspiration" we should remember we only need to do it one day at a time, and one life at a time.

If you feel you know someone who should be included in this heroes corner please do not hesitate to send us the details so that this may be done.

Welcome to a celebration of lives of those who believed that indeed one person could make a difference, those who did not wait for others to make that difference, but instead valiantly took up the gauntlet armed only with passion.

Karibu and be inspired.

David Ogot Snr.
Recovering alcholic
Nairobi
13th November 2007

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