As part of on ongoing work of the YaR programme, we go to schools to give talks on the dangers and consequences of substance abuse. The Education Department of Goa has also mandated that every school in Goa needs to have awareness sessions on substance abuse, mental health and sexual harassment.
The session that we conduct in schools is a 30-minute talk where the children of Std. 8-10 can interact with our presenters and ask questions after the presentation. So far the presentations have gone of quite nicely and there has been plenty of interaction with the students.
The sessions are conducted by Fr. Edson Fernandes sdb, Ms. Sheila Furtado – counsellor, Ms. Shefali Sequeira – counsellor and Trevor de Noronha – staff. We have done sessions in a number of schools in North Goa.
We try to meet the school authorities and set up the sessions as per their convenience and then deliver the session in the school. Sometimes the children have questions that they would like to ask regarding addiction.
