CBE and Lourdes School hold workshop on drug awareness and rehab

Mangaluru: In the Silver Jubilee Year of Lourdes Central School, a day’s workshop was organized by the Catholic Board of Education for Pre-University lecturers at LCS on 4-11-2023. The topic of the workshop was “Types of drugs and its effects, Rehabilitation, and Psychological first aid”. There were 140 participants from 10 different institutions under the aegis of CBE. The program started with a prayer song followed by lighting of the lamp.

The Principal of Lourdes Central School Rev. Fr Robert D Souza welcomed the gathering. Rev. Fr Antony Shera, Secretary, Catholic Board of Education delivered the Keynote address and introduced the guest speakers. Rev Fr Leo Praveen Lasrado, Secretary designate, CBE graced the occasion with his presence.

In the First session the resource person, Dr Hareesh Gowda, Professor and Head of the Department of Forensic Medicine, Father Muller Medical ColIege gave an insight into drugs, types and effects of these and sensitized the audience about the ill effects of drug abuse. The role of teachers in preventing drug abuse among students, ways to help them to come out of this menace and the legal aspects of drug administration were the topics of discussion.”

Lydia Lobo, Director, Link International Rehabilitation Centre briefed about rehabilitation and the various rehabilitation services. She affirmed that most therapies aim to stop or reduce the use of drugs and alcohol. She also narrated her experiences of encountering drug addicts and bringing them back to life.

Mark and Dr Anirudh shared their experiences of rehabilitation services and how this helped them to restore their normal life.

Fr Arun Lobo, Director, Diocesan Counseling Centre was one of the speakers for the afternoon session. He created awareness on psychological first aid, its significance as it reduces stress symptoms and assist in a healthy recovery from depression, anxiety, suicidal tendencies etc. He also spoke on challenges of youth and Role of teachers in solving the problems of students.

Dr Lavina Noronha, Director, Ave Maria Palliative Care addressed the gathering on the topic Suicide awareness and intervention and said that awareness and intervention aims to reduce the intensity of an individual’s emotional, mental, physical and behavioral reactions to a crisis and help individuals return to their level of functioning before the crisis.

The workshop ended at 4 p.m. with a concluding message by Rev Fr Antony Shera, followed by the distribution of certificates for the participants. The vote of thanks was delivered by Sharmila Colaco. The whole programme was compered by Deepa DSouza. This one-day workshop was really insightful and informative.