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CONGO First of all, I have a brother who used to smoke cigarettes, since he was 15 years old, and with this habit he began to use heavy drug. One day he had to go to the hospital. All the family was so anxious about his health. I said to myself that it was time to have him stop smoking, but how & when? Secondly, in my country people who develop tobacco related-diseases/problems do not benefit from support of the government. For these two reasons I became interested in WHO activities about tobacco. And after meeting an international organization and following many trainings and seminars I became interested in the fight against tobacco. With Blue Cross, which is the organization where I am working for the time being, I began to follow-up with people suffering from tobacco problems by giving them advice. I am interested in the ways people abandon tobacco use -- this motivates me to go on, especially my brother cited above who abandoned tobacco use. After many months my organization gave me prevention work & training. My brother who quit smoking now has a large family and more and more he gives testimony to his wife and children, how through my advice and efforts he quit using tobacco and heavy drugs. One day my brother knew that we had a training seminar and he [stopped by] to give testimony. This was so great! His words changed peoples' lives and the number of correspondence we received one week after the seminar [was tremendous] -- this motivates me again. And more again the way as so many people through our prevention, follow-up, fight etc. change their habit and say No to Tobacco. And I know also that I am not alone in this corner of the world, but men, women, children & organizations around the world are fighting against tobacco and resisting tobacco companies. I know that people around the world care about the health of those who develop tobacco related-diseases/problems and people around the world want to reduce, bring an end to the number of those dying from using tobacco products. We are in Africa, and the enormous correspondences about tobacco control that we receive from around the world colleagues, friends, partner, network, USA etc. motivates me. I am not alone -- people around the world care!! I became interested in international tobacco control efforts through my interest in WHO activities and my organization is an international one. And also when I filled out the application form of GPTC and found a partner. Especially the number of correspondences through GPTC and finding among those correspondences websites etc. Today I write so many letters around the world. Such an iinitiative does not exist in my country. The Blue Cross of the Democratic Republic of Congo is partnered with Alachua County SWAT (FL) |