Dozens take part in inaugural 10K Recovery Hike

More than 100 people participated in the inaugural 10K Recovery Hike hosted by the Substance Abuse Foundation this morning.

The inaugural hike is part of the month-long activities of Drug Awareness Month held under the theme Taking Charge of Change.

Led by the Barbados Hiking Association, hikers clad in pink and purple t-shirts trekked through the rural grassy plains of St John. They finished just after 9 a.m. at the residential all-male treatment facility, Verdun House.

Angela Sealy, director of clinical service for the SAF informed the media that with marijuana and alcohol being the most prominent substances being abused in Barbados, the non-profit organization was seeking to educate and assist the public in any way it can.

“We’re just all about nurturing and looking at our island as a whole and being able to assist in any way,” said Sealy who also reported that 2018 was an amazing year for both Verdun House and Marina House.

With the female treatment facility, Marina House, which is located in New Castle, St John, celebrating three years, Sealy that the goal for 2019 was to raise awareness that treatment for drug addiction was possible.

“We would like the island of Barbados, and not only Barbados but across the Caribbean, to know that there is an alternative, you do not have to do it alone. You are not in it by yourself, we are here for you, we are here to help,” she stressed. (KK)