Vašek is a drug user; when he was younger, he played football for many years. He had a dream – to have a football cup for drug users. Watch this video of David Pešek from the Czech SANANIM Contact Centre about the Harm Reduction Cup 2016.
Vašek is a drug user; when he was younger, he played football for many years. He is a very nice guy, somehow lost in the big city. Some years ago, we tried to arrange treatment for him in a therapeutic community (long-term residential care, usually in the country, lots of group therapy, work therapy, etc.); he was there for just a few months, left before completing the course, and returned to use. Later, we tried to help him to stabilise his life through sheltered employment; he was a street worker, monitoring the area around our drop-in centre, collecting infectious material and doing a lot of good for the community. Nowadays, he works for our partner organisation, Progressive, in the Fixpoint program, which employs active drug users to handle secure containers which are used for the safe disposal of infectious injecting paraphernalia. The clients regularly check and empty the containers, and collect syringes in public places.
The aim of the sports event was to bring people together, regardless of whether or not they use drugs. The tournament is (and in the future will continue to be) built on the idea that all human beings are equal, all deserve the same rights, and everyone needs compassion from time to time in life.
So, Vašek had a dream – to have a football cup for drug users. This video is about his dream, and about how it became reality.
(Turn on English subtitles by clicking on the CC button at the right bottom of the video.)
David Pešek, SANANIM Contact Centre, Czech Republic
