There isn’t a soul amongst us who hasn’t been affected by drug use at some point in our lives. Sure, it may not be a friend or family member, but the problems arising from drug addiction are an everyday present around both the city of Cape Town and South Africa at large.

So how do we reach the people that matter and try and affect a meaningful change in both their outlook and approach to getting clean? It seems warnings tend to fall on deaf ears and a fresh approach is needed, which is where the folks behind the Someone In Cape Town campaign are taking the initiative.

Someone in Cape Town is an innovative social media campaign, by city of Cape Town, that tells the story of a recovering drug user in the city. Aimed at young people between 16 and 25 years old, the campaign demystifies the recovery process and shows that it is possible (but not necessarily easy) to beat drugs.

Facebook, Tumblr and YouTube have been used to give a day-by-day account of the recovery process, right from the moment someone phones the helpline number through to the end of the initial six-week programme. Think of it is as following the story of a friend in recovery on social media.

For those that want to dig deeper into the central character’s story, their Facebook page timeline has been pre-populated with the events that led up to entering the recovery programme.

To protect vulnerable people in recovery, the campaign uses actors to recreate the true story of a young Capetonian man who has successfully beaten drugs. Extensive research was carried out with recovered addicts and people running recovery programmes in Cape Town to put together this story. They have attempted to make this accessible to young people from across the city but to present a raw and honest view of the situation.

The end goal is to increase the number of young people that reach out for help from a city run programme by calling the City of Cape Town’s helpline number, which can be reached on 0800 435 748.

I guess we can all do our bit by getting behind this campaign, sharing the story of the recovering addict across various social media platforms and ensuring this great initiative has the best chance of reaching those who really need to hear its message.

You can follow the campaign, which has been running from April and will continue until mid-June, through these channels:

Facebook HERE

Tumblr HERE

YouTube HERE