WATCH | Putting self-esteem back into drug rehab

Having grown up with a drug-addicted brother, Candice Collocot knows all about the challenges and suffering addiction causes.

Along the journey, she realised that formal rehabilitation institutes in and around Wetton, Cape Town, were financially out of many people's reach and that the waiting process was too long – sometimes up to 1.5 years. Eventually they discovered pop-up rehabilitation centres, which were held at people's homes.

“It's more affordable so the community takes the gap and creates these rehabs,” says Collocot.

Collocot spent years visiting various local and informal rehabilitation institutes and found that certain interventions were missing from their programme - like the teaching of life skills and general emotional upliftment.

“Some of these rehabs did not treat the boys as well. They were very authoritarian,” she adds.

So, out of a passion for never giving up on her brother and addicts like him, Collocot created interactive workshops. She began running the workshops at these informal centres, focusing on values, motivation, self-esteem, anger management, finding a purpose and creating positive habits.

Candice’s long-term goal is to continue building South Africa by nurturing an active citizenry.

This article was published in partnership with ACTIVATE!, a network of young leaders equipped to drive change for the public across South Africa.

Video produced by Content Lounge