THE Guyana Division of the Salvation Army is offering a 50 percent or $25,000 discount on the cost of its Drug Rehabilitation Programme with immediate effect, to 10 persons – particularly young men – who are addicted to the use of drugs/alcohol, and who would genuinely like to enter treatment/therapy and have their lives transformed and be reintegrated into society.

Such clients must be able to satisfy the Salvation Army that they are serious about making this change, but are unable to raise the entire cost of $50,000 which caters for the six-month programme.
Serious inquiries must be made to the Programme Manager, Salvation Army Men’s Social Services Centre, on telephone number 226-1235 or visit the premises at Lot 6, Water Street, Kingston.

Major Ulrik Thibaud along with his wife, Major Claudette Thibaud have been managing the programme for more than six years, and have developed a passion for working towards changing lives. Together with counsellors and other social workers at the centre, they have been doing an incredible job and have been able to treat, offer therapy, and turn around the lives of several men whose future had been on the brink of disaster, thus affording them an opportunity to be reintegrated into society and now leading positive lives.

It seems there’s no better engagement for Major Ulrik Thibaud who has a deep passion for the job and would not exchange it for anything, if he had any control over that situation.
Major Thibaud reflected on the years he has offered service in this particular field; the outcomes, and the joy experienced each time someone completes the programme, and a life is turned around.

“I’ve been working hard throughout my ministry, but these six years plus that I’ve spent here in the Drug Rehabilitation Programme are my best years. I’ve worked with social institutions – the School for the Blind, Jamaica for example, but with the Drug Rehabilitation Programme – it was my first exposure when I came here to Guyana,” he reflected.

Such works of the Salvation Army have been acknowledged by the Government of Guyana, by way of an annual subvention of $10 million toward the cost of executing the programme. Additionally, the Salvation Army was awarded the prestigious Medal of Service (M.S) for its work in society.

Expressing deep emotions as he spoke, the Programme Manager declared: “It’s a great job. I like it, I love it. The fact that you see somebody who came to you with no hope; somebody who looked like nobody. The way they look … their condition and after a few times you see change.”

He continued: Through the teaching, we impart to them, we make that person become transformed … We make that person become a new individual – both outwardly and inwardly, and eventually, when you talk to them, the way they answer you, you can see that the response comes from the heart. That’s my best work…. changing people’s lives, particularly the drug addicts. That’s the best work I’ve ever done in my life. It is challenging, but my wife and I, we really love it.”

He said that it is a good feeling to see so many men pass through the Rehab Centre – some of whom have struggled- who later became fully reintegrated into society. He referred to it as “a glorious transformation.”

“I am thrilled to see the kinds of persons they eventually become. Some become businessmen; some become contractors; some become teachers; some become counsellors. You get them in all walks of life. And what’s more – they are coming not only from within our society, but from all over the world.

They’re coming from the UK, they’re coming from America; they’re coming from Canada; they’re coming from all over the Caribbean – Guyanese who have become hooked on drugs. Then, after they would have successfully completed the programme, they return to their respective countries clean and spread the good tidings,” he said. Major Thibaud reported that there are three clients from Canada currently enrolled in the programme.

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He noted that people who would have benefitted from the programme would pass on the word to relatives and friends residing overseas who may also be struggling with addiction, leading persons from various countries who genuinely see the need to have their lives transformed, to enroll right here in Guyana.

Six months later, it’s amazing what an incredible job the programme would have done for them. What a joy it is when they can become reunited with their families; what better hope than to know that their lives would have been completely changed, so they can become gainfully employed and reposition themselves to become re-integrated into society.
Expressing profound satisfaction with the way in which the programme has been going and continues to unfold, Major Thibaud said: “So we thank God for the programme, and we also thank the Government of Guyana for supporting us by way of a grant of $10 million to subsidise the expenses of the centre.”

He said that without that $10 million it would have been very difficult for him to run the programme, since the overall budget is about $24M. While at the Rehab Centre, the clients are taken through training programmes and are afforded quality living conditions, including highly nutritious meals and nothing that would compromise their health. They are also exposed to Christian teachings.

“We feed them so that we can rebuild their bodies. Not only do we rebuild their minds, but their bodies. This programme takes into account their physical and emotional well-being,” the Major added.

Mjr. Thibaud stressed that the programme is a holistic approach to the well-being of the individual. “We cater for them physically, spiritually, mentally, morally and emotionally,” he assured. Coming out of this, their outlook to live would be completely different from when they first came to the centre. “The way they walk; the way they talk; the way they handle situations; the way they go about doing things, make it evident that the whole individual has been changed,” Major Thibaud declared.

“It is a process … and we tell their parents or spouses after they leave treatment, to continue to help us/them to continue to monitor them. We also beg society to continue to encourage them; to give them that push so that they can really become the person God intended them to be and the kind of Guyanese men who will play their part in the ongoing development of the beautiful Guyana – Land of Many Waters.”

Aside from managing the centre, he has been an organiser of annual fund-raising dinners to augment the expenses of the institution, and has been able to attract the support from President David Granger, as well as, former Presidents Donald Ramotar and Bharrat Jagdeo under whose administration the yearly subventions for the Rehabilitation Programme were instituted. The fundraisers began in 2012, one year after the Majors arrived at the centre and were initially kept at the Georgetown Club, and subsequently at the Pegasus Hotel which accommodates more persons.

The response has been incredible, with overwhelming support from government officials, the Salvation Army Advisory Board, the private sector, supportive relatives and friends of the clients and a wide cross-section of the community.

Expressing gratitude for the support of the Salvation Army Rehabilitation Programme, Major Thibaud stated emphatically: “I want to say thanks to the Government of Guyana for their continued support; also to corporate Guyana. Not only do they buy the tickets, but they personally attend and that is encouraging.

It is their presence that makes the difference.” He also thanked the media for their professional coverage of the events which gives the public a better understanding of the works of the Salvation Army.