Omani drug rehab worker learns the ins and outs of treating addicts

Thankful: Taimur speaking on his experience at the certificate presentation at Rumah Pengasih.

KUALA LUMPUR: When he first came to Malaysia from Oman for drug rehabilitation care training, Taimur Al-Balushi did not know what to expect.

A month’s training through Pengasih Malaysia, however, left him and his six friends in awe of the practical, effective approach the centre undertook for the rehabilitation of drug users.

“We have drug rehabilitation methods in our country as well, but the treatment was more towards the medical aspect and not on the patients’ psychological level.

“Here, we interacted with the residents and observed their path as a means towards getting rid of their addiction,” he said after receiving his training completion certificate together with other trainees at Rumah Pengasih here yesterday.

Taimur was among seven people from treatment centres in Oman, who completed the training programme on fundamentals of rehabilitation, treatment and aftercare of drug users.

They were sponsored by Oman’s national committee for narcotics and psychotropic substances, which had previously sent a group of trainees here last year. These staff were now actively contributing to drug rehabilitation work in Oman.

“Now that we are done with our training, we hope to implement all that we have learnt here in our own country’s drug rehabilitation centres, and educate others back home as well,” said Taimur, who has been here since Jan 6.

Pengasih president Datuk Yunus Pathi said the collaboration between the centre and Oman began after one of their citizens successfully underwent rehabilitation here four years ago.

“After that, we worked with the Oman embassy here to come up with a framework to train staff from their country to adopt our methods.

“Our programme involves seminar sessions, direct observation of activities here, and interactive sessions with the residents, among others,” he said.

Yunus added that the response to the training programme has been most positive, and the centre was expecting more trainees from the country to arrive in Malaysia for training soon.

Oman embassy’s deputy head of mission Mohammed Al-Mashaani, who presented the certificates to the trainees, expressed hope that they would make good use of their experience gained through their training programme here.

“I have seen signs of improvement among the staff at treatment centres back home who have had undergone a month’s training here, and it is a delight to see them working towards improving the lives of those who want to kick their drug addiction,” he said.