The Office of the Dean of Students at Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUSD has the mandate to provide assistance to students and provide a conducive learning environment for them to achieve the best out of their educational opportunities. In its quest to be a world class student-centered University, MMUST recognizes its students as the most important clientele, hence, seeks to provide a suitable academic and social environment.
The Youth Against Drug Initiative (YADI), under the Peer Counseling Club, is one of the youth-led passionate and transformative programs founded by MMUST students- Kevin lchingwa, Tobias Nairuki and Dennis Kirui with an aim of empowering youths in Kakamega County to overcome the abuse of drugs and substances. According to Kevin lchingwa, the high poverty levels in Kakamega, peer pressure, unemployment, broken families and poor educational backgrounds are some of the leading causes of abuse of drugs and substances amongst the youths.
"Two out of five youths, mostly in high schools and universities, abuse drugs. This is why school programs need to incorporate specialized education on drug abuse. We plan to visit as many schools as possible with an aim of making our schools drug-free zones but we can't achieve this overnight. Other stakeholders such as school administrators, spiritual leaders, medical practitioners, street children, students, the community and the County Government of Kakamega have a role to play in the fight against drugs and substance abuse amongst the youths," said lchingwa.
YADI student members together with other charity initiatives such as Bread4Street take part in various Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities such as donation of food and essentials to street children and advising them against drug and substance abuse. The Youth Against Drug Initiative also provides mentorship to high school students and communities within Kakamega by creating awareness and education against drug and substance abuse with an aim of reducing the number of school dropouts, early teenage pregnancies, spread of HIV/AIDS and crime rateamongst the youths.
