No place like home

Mar 27, 2024

By Stephan Uttom Rozario
Mahfuz was just seven years old when he left home and started wandering the streets.

At a very young age, his parents sold him to another couple, who abused him. He also suffered abuse from his teachers at the Madrasa (Islamic education centre) where he was sent to study. Outside the school, he was labelled as “adopted,” with no parents to protect him.

Mahfuz had no place to call “home”. After leaving home in 2012, life became even more difficult for Mahfuz. He began asking people for food, collecting and selling plastics found on the streets, and occasionally buying food with the money he earned by carrying goods for people at railway stations and launch terminals.

Mahfuz had to sleep on roadsides, at railway stations, or launch terminals. During this time, he encountered many young children addicted to various substances, including alcohol, marijuana, heroin, phensedyl syrup, and yaba (tablets containing a mixture of caffeine and methamphetamine, produced in Myanmar).

Gradually, Mahfuz too fell into the grip of addiction. However, his life took a significant turn when he encountered a church-run rehabilitation centre. “One day, I discovered a drop-in centre operated by BARACA (Bangladesh Assistance and Rehabilitation Centre for Addicts), where I was allowed to have khichuri for lunch for free,” he said. (Khichuri is a Bangladeshi dish made of rice, lentils, and vegetables.)

After two years of wandering the streets, Mahfuz has been able to secure at least one meal a day at BARACA since 2014. In 2016, BARACA extended their support by providing overnight accommodation at their dropin centre, and Mahfuz began staying there.

Like Mahfuz, about 50 other children under the age of 18 began residing at the centre. In 2017, BARACA initiated an educational programme at the school Mahfuz attended, starting with just three students enrolled.

This year, Mahfuz is set to take the secondary examination from a UCEP (Underprivileged Children’s Educational Programmes) school. Established in 1972, UCEP Bangladesh is a non-government organisation which provides “Second Chance Education” to out-of-school children.

Simultaneously, he completed a threemonth electrical course at a technical education institution operated by Caritas Bangladesh. Meanwhile, Mahfuz has found employment as a cook at another drop-in centre, earning a salary of around US$70 (RM330) per month.

“Drug addiction is completely gone from my life. I am now studying and even managing to save some money every month from my income.”

Centre of hope for lost souls
BARACA is a non-governmental, non-profit volunteer development organisation that stands as the inaugural drug treatment and rehabilitation centre in Bangladesh. Initiated by the Holy Cross Brothers and serving as a central project of Caritas Bangladesh, it began its operations on July 1, 1988.



The organisation is dedicated to offering a range of services, including treatment and rehabilitation for drug-dependent individuals (both male and female), awareness campaigns about drugs, harm and risk reduction strategies, Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) for drug-dependent persons, and providing day-care and night shelter facilities for street-based children at risk.

According to BARACA’s director, Holy Cross Brother Francis Nirmal Gomes, the initiative to establish institutions like BARACA came from the Holy Cross Brothers’ observations of inattentive students at their school, who were found to be drug addicts. This discovery prompted them to consider treating drug addiction, leading to the creation of BARACA.

Bro Gomes recounted how, in pursuit of solutions for drug addiction, the Holy Cross Brothers engaged with local communities, leading to Bro Ronald Drahozal being tasked with spearheading this initiative. Under his leadership, BARACA was founded in 1988. Bro Drahozal managed BARACA until 1995, when it became a specialised project under the Catholic charity Caritas Bangladesh.

During his tenure, Bro Drahozal, together with Bro Donald J. Becker, also established APON (Ashokti Punorbashon Nibash), an addiction rehabilitation residence in Muhammadpur in 1994, thanks to contributions from his family and relatives. APON relocated to Manikganj in 2007, supported by both local and international donors.

Today, both BARACA and APON are operated by the Holy Cross Brothers, continuing their mission to combat drug addiction in Bangladesh. While APON functions independently with its own curriculum and administrative policies, BARACA operates under the guidelines set by Caritas.

Challenges: Then and Now
“Starting BARACA was fraught with challenges,” Bro Gomes reflected. “Initially, our efforts weren’t recognised by the government, which posed a significant hurdle.”

Financial constraints and a lack of experience in drug rehabilitation added to the difficulties. To overcome this, Bro Ronald and the newly recruited staff travelled to various countries to receive training at established drug addiction rehabilitation centres.

Today, Bangladesh is home to 370 private rehab centres, with 90 per cent of them managed by individuals who were rehabilitated through APON and BARACA. Their success is a testament to the effective training and knowledge acquired from our programmes, according to the religious brother.

BARACA now operates four drop-in centres, offering day and night accommodation for about 100 individuals and day-only services for an additional 50.

The main centre is equipped to treat over 50 people at a time. Both BARACA and APON emphasise outreach efforts, particularly in regions known to be origins for many addicts and street children.

Our outreach workers engage directly with these individuals, offering conversation, motivation, and sustenance. Those who are willing are initially brought to our drop-in centres and, if they agree, eventually to our main treatment facility,” said Bro Gomes.

He pointed out a significant challenge in drug rehabilitation: some drugs on the market severely damage the brain, making recovery difficult. Compounding the issue is the lack of specialised education in drug addiction rehabilitation and addiction psychology within the country.

“We’ve initiated discussions with universities to introduce at least one course on the psychology of drug addiction, where our staff could contribute as instructors. They have been receptive to this idea,” Bro Gomes shared.

Despite the availability of rehabilitation services, seeking help from a rehab mentor is not common in Bangladeshi society. Stigma persists even after recovery, with families and even spouses often doubting the individual’s return to normalcy.

Bro Gomes lamented the societal barriers to effective rehabilitation, emphasising the critical need for social and family emotional support.

“Our society still clings to social taboos. I want to convey that drug addicts are not insane; they are unwell. With the right treatment, they can fully recover and reintegrate into society, but achieving this requires support at every level,” he asserted.

Government efforts
The Ministry of Social Welfare, through the Department of Social Services, is undertaking initiatives to support underprivileged children, including the Child Sensitive Social Protection in Bangladesh project and Services for the Children at Risk.

Government reports from January 2012 to February 2015 indicated that 14,884 street children received social protection services via Drop-in Centres, 758 were reunited with their families, 5,229 were given access to Emergency Night Shelter, 4,578 to Child-Friendly Space, and 23,617 to Open Air Schools.



Despite these efforts, the government’s 70 child houses, each with a capacity for at least 100 residents, face criticism. Key issues include poor management, inadequate care from staff, and a lack of drug rehabilitation services for addicted children.

Abdul Jabbar, an assistant director of the social services department, asserted that these homes provide safe shelter, food, and education. While acknowledging the absence of targeted interventions for drug addiction, Jabbar suggested that improving overall living conditions for these children might also address the drug issue indirectly.

In late 2012, Mahfuz, at just seven years old, left home with a sense of uncertainty; now he is 19 and has a job through BARACA. --LiCAS News