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Script 59.6

Farm Radio International

Habits … A Drama About Youth and Drugs

April 1, 2001
From Package 59: Radio in Support of Rural Youth
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Notes to broadcasters

Before broadcasting the following drama about young people who use drugs, alcohol and tobacco,
find out if there are youth groups or other organizations in your area (or contact your local health
clinic) that offer programs to help young people stop using these dangerous substances. You can
incorporate this information into the program when it airs.

You may wish to include a short explanation from the program host between scenes (either before or
after the sound effects), so that your audience is aware of the change of story in the drama.

Script

Characters:

Program host

Selena, Raphael, Precious, Trudy, Leah, Thandi:

Youths who are using or experimenting with tobacco, alcohol or drugs

MUSIC (Program theme…Run 30 seconds…).

Program host:
Youth can be a time of experimentation and taking risks. Many young people today experiment with
illegal drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and solvents, such as glue and gasoline. These substances can cause
bad feelings, and make people lose control of their actions. In the drama that follows, we hear from a
number of young people about why they use these substances. Stay tuned at the end of our program
to hear about substance abuse from several young members of our listening audience.

SOUND EFFECTS (Sound of sewing machines being operated).

Selena:
My name is Selena. I come from a village not too far from the capital city. Every morning I get up early
and help with chores at home, sweeping the front yard and putting out feed for the animals. Then I
catch the first bus into town. Sometimes it can take two hours to get there. I wish I could sleep on the
bus, but there are too many things to keep me awake. The bus is always overcrowded. The roads are
very bad and we feel every bump because the driver goes too quickly and makes turns so fast that my
heart pounds.

My shift starts at 7 AM. We get only two 15 minute breaks, one at midday and the other at 4 PM. By
afternoon, I am very tired. That is why I take these pills one of the other girls from work gave me. They
make me a little jumpy, but they keep me awake until my shift ends. At 7:15 PM I get the last bus back
to my village.

I wish I didn’t have to work. I would rather be in school, but my mother needs the money. She is trying
to feed seven of us. Things have been difficult since my daddy left. Mummy says some day I won’t
have to come to the factory to work any more. Meanwhile, I keep taking these pills. They keep me
awake. They keep me up. I don’t like it when I feel down. Only trouble is, I feel awful when the pills
wear off, so then I want to take some more to stop the bad feelings. I hate this.

SOUND EFFECTS (Sounds of sewing machines. Run 6 seconds and fade to market sounds.).

Raphael:
The best days are the big market days in the middle of the week. There are so many people it is easier
to slip in and out, to move about without being seen or to snatch and run. With the crowds, we can
make a run for it and get lost in the confusion. If one of us gets caught, the others don’t look back. We
just hold on to what we’ve got and run.

Why do we steal? Well, we’ve got to eat, right? And we have to buy our drugs. The drugs get us
through a lot of hard times. You feel high and you know that anything is possible. Then reality kicks in
again and you feel bad. If I could, I’d stay high all the time.

I left home a long time ago. I’ve been living on the streets since I was seven years old. Life on the
street is tough, but it sure beats what was going on at home. I could never go back there. The streets
— they are my home now. I hang out in a gang. We look out for each other as much as we can. It’s too
tough trying to make it on your own on the streets. That’s how I got into the drugs. At first I didn’t want
to try them, but the other kids wouldn’t have accepted me as much. I wanted to fit in.
Yeah, life on the streets is tough. It is stinky and filthy and you feel like dirt all of the time because
you’re living in dirt. But the drugs sure help. Someday I’m going to stop though. I’m going to get out of
this. Maybe I’ll even get a job and a girl and we can get married and have kids. I don’t know. I think
about that sometimes, but I don’t know how. I don’t know how to get out from under. Anyway, right
now I gotta run. I gotta go get some stuff.

SOUND EFFECTS (Market sounds … run 5 seconds, then fade into the sound of late night in a
village (crickets, etc.).

Precious:
It was always in the middle of the night when he would come to me. The first time it happened he just
came to my corner of the compound, put his hand over my mouth and held tight. I was so shocked
and frightened I didn’t move.

After he had his way with me, I lay in the dark crying silently. I could hear my mother breathing in her
corner, but she did not shift or move. The next day I felt so ashamed I could hardly look at her. But
momma didn’t seem to notice. She had that same broken down, worn out look she always wears. She
is too busy and worried about the younger ones to even notice me.

The next time he forced himself on me I did not cry. I just shut down a part of myself and did not allow
myself to feel. It was as though it was happening to someone else. Sometimes though I do feel
intense shame. I can’t stand it. And that’s when I drink. It keeps me numb and I feel good.

When I am high on booze I can laugh. I like to laugh. I need to laugh. Lately, my friends are telling me I
drink too much. Sometimes I wake up and I don’t remember what has happened. My friend says I let
some boys do things to me one night. She tells me to be careful. I could get pregnant. Or I could get
infected with HIV, the virus that causes the AIDS disease. I know she’s right. It’s just so hard. It’s late
now. I wonder whether he will come tonight.

SOUND EFFECTS (Night noise…run 5 seconds and fade to school yard sounds.).

Trudy:
Hey! Marissa! Got a smoke? Hey, what are you looking at?

I know. I know. They say you shouldn’t smoke. That it’s bad for you. But the white girls in the
magazines and on the billboards? They smoke and life is good for them.

Everyone knows life is better if you have white skin. So? What are you looking at? I know my skin is
brown. But if I smoke, I feel cool. Even if I’m not white. Hey! Marissa! Where’s that cigarette? You owe
me a smoke. Remember?

SOUND EFFECTS (School yard sounds. Run for a few seconds then fade into sound of water being
pumped.).

Leah:
Hello, Thandi.

Thandi:
Hello, Leah. Where have you been?

Leah:
I’m sorry I’m late. I had to stay after school.
Thandi:
Of all days to be late! You know if we don’t get this water pumped and home on time we won’t be
allowed to go out tonight.

Leah:
Thandi. I’ve been thinking. I don’t know whether we should go.

Thandi:
Are you kidding? Why not?

Leah:
You’ve heard the rumours about what happens at those parties the kids hold in the gorge. The
drinking and the drugs.

Thandi:
Leah, don’t be stupid. Sulu and his brother want to take us to this party. It means they don’t think of us
as little girls any more.

Only the popular girls get invited down to the gorge.

Leah:
One of my friends at school says only loose girls go down there. What if they want us to do things we
don’t want to do? How will we get home? It will be hard to say no.

Thandi:
Leah, I can’t believe you’re doing this on the biggest night of our lives. This village is so boring. There
is never anything to do. At least the people who go out to the gorge are having a good time. And if we
say no, Sulu and Tewvik won’t have anything to do with us.

Leah:
We don’t have to go down to the gorge to have a good time. Why don’t we try to organize some
activities for young people around here. We could have parties without having a lot of drugs and
alcohol. We could perform dramas or make music or something. And if Sulu and Tewvik really like us,
they won’t mind. They might want to help.

Thandi:
Oh, Leah. Sometimes you give me a headache.

SOUND EFFECTS (Sound of water being pumped).

Leah:
Come on. Let’s get this water pumped and back home so we can try to find Sulu and Tewvik. Maybe
they would be willing to just get together and talk about forming a youth club to organize some fun
activities for ourselves instead of going down to the gorge. You just want to see them, right? It doesn’t
have to be down at the gorge.

Thandi:
I don’t know. And why didn’t you think of this before?

Leah:
Well, I didn’t want to disappoint you. But the more I think about it, if I do things I know aren’t good for
me, I’ll be disappointing myself. What that girl told me today about what happens to some of the girls
who go down to the gorge made me change my mind. Come on Thandi, why don’t we at least ask Sulu
and Tewvik if we can do something different tonight?

Thandi:
Oh, alright. I was a little bit nervous about going out to the gorge myself actually. I just hope they won’t
think we’re scared.

Leah:
Alright! If they really like us they won’t mind. Come on. Let’s hurry up and finish.

SOUND EFFECTS (Sounds of water being pumped).

Note:
If possible, follow this broadcast with a discussion about substance abuse. Invite several young
people from your listening audience to come to your radio station to participate. Be sure to focus
on solutions, for example, how the young people in the discussion group overcame their
substance abuse problems, and give local organizations or groups that youth may contact for
further information.]

Program host:
In the studio today to talk about some of the issues raised in the drama and what can be done to
prevent substance abuse are three young people: [give names]

Following panel discussion:

Program host:
We’d like to hear from you. Your feedback on our drama is important. We also welcome your ideas on
how to prevent substance abuse. Contact us here at radio station [ _______________ ].

– END –

Acknowledgements

Contributed by: Adiat Junaid, Researcher/Writer, Toronto, Canada.

Reviewed by: Lelo Njumbuxa, Senior Communications Officer, and Linda Mabusela,
Communications Assistant, Youth Development Trust, PO Box 214, Florida Hills 1716, South
Africa.  Tel: (27 11) 472-4594, Fax: (27 11) 472-4597, E-mail: info@ydt.co.za

Information Sources

“Substance use mmong street children and other children and youth in especially difficult
circumstances,” Fact Sheet N151, March 1997. World Health Organization (WHO).
Choices: A Guide for Young People, Gill Gordon, 1999. Macmillan Publishers Limited, 25
Eccleston Place, London, England, SW1W 9NF.
“Youth Front Against Drugs and Alcohol Abuse – YFADAA: A youth-led approach to
combating substance abuse,” The International Youth Foundation: Youth Net Intl. (For
information about the specific project referred to above contact: Ibrahim Bun Sanneh, Secretary
 General, Youth Front Organization, PO Box 2068, Banjul, The Gambia.  Tel: 220 228-627 or 220
907-772, Fax: 220 227-214.)
SUPPORT (Society Undertaking Poor People’s Onus for Rehabilitation), Old BMC Office 2nd
Floor, Vakola Market, Nehru Road, Santa Cruz (east), Mumbai – 400 005, India.  Tel: (91-22) 616
2965, Fax: (91-22) 287 3377, E-mail: support-ngo@vishna.com.
South African National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence.
Substance Abuse: Supporting Vulnerable Groups.
DrugUse: Helpful Links to other informational Sites.

Save and Edit this script

This script also available in:

French

Other scripts in Package 59:

59.1 Sara Stays in School

59.2 Sara Learns About Health and Nutrition at School
59.3 Understanding Each Other: The Importance of Listening to Youth and Children
59.4 AIDS: Youth Take Action to Prevent a Killer Disease
59.5 AIDS: Young People Talk About How Aids Affects Family Life
59.7 Young People are at Risk on the Farm
59.8 Children have a Right to Play and to Learn
59.9 Young People can Learn from Their Elders
59.10 Youth Credit Supports Youth Business
59.11 Rural Youth Success Stories
59.12 A Better Life in the Country

Related Scripts:

93.0 Package 93: Healthy Communities

93.1 Issue Pack: Healthy Communities
93.11 AIDS support group gives positive people a new lease on life!
93.9 Florence saves girls from human trafficking
93.6 Empowering communities with participatory community enumeration

About Farm Radio

Farm Radio International is a Canadian-based, not-for-profit organization working in direct partnership

with approximately 600 radio broadcasters in 38 African countries to fight poverty and food
insecurity.
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