In a deeply emotional cerefmony that laid bare the human cost of the nation’s drug epidemic, the Minister of Social Welfare, Mrs. Melrose Karminty, officially admitted over 50 young people into the Peace Mission Training Center (PMTC) in Hastings on Tuesday.
The event transcended a typical government function, becoming a communal outpouring of grief and resolve. As the new intake of trainees stood with their parents, the weight of their collective struggles was palpable. Mrs. Karminty, visibly moved, went from family to family, offering comfort and joining parents in blessing their children.
“I am not just here as a minister, but as a mother, as a sister to this community,” Mrs. Karminty stated, her voice thick with emotion. “Your tears are my tears. The pain you feel is a wound on our entire society. But today, let these tears also water the seeds of hope we are planting together.”
Many parents wept uncontrollably, expressing a complex mix of sorrow for the past and gratitude for the intervention. “I lost my boy to kush for two years. We had given up hope,” said Mr. Samuel Koroma, whose 19-year-old son was admitted. “This program has given him a chance. I cry for the years we lost, but I also cry with joy for the future we might now have.”
The admissions mark the first major batch under the government’s new “Restoring Dignity” initiative, a flagship program spearheaded by the Minister. The initiative provides a six-month, in-patient program at the PMTC that includes medical detoxification, psychological counseling, and vocational training. The program also encompasses mandatory family therapy and a year-long aftercare plan with job placement assistance to prevent relapse.
Minister Karminty framed the initiative as a critical response to a national crisis. “The scourge of drug addiction is tearing apart the fabric of our youth,” she asserted. “This is our declaration of war against this menace.” She confirmed the Hastings center is the first of three such facilities planned across the country, with a goal to rehabilitate over 500 youths within the next year.
