FCD (Freedom from Chemical Dependency) is an international non-profit provider of drug prevention services. Started by a group of individuals who were previously users of chemical substances, they strive to raise awareness to the youth of our world about the damages drug abuse can cause. They now go around the world to different schools to teach and educate the children and inspire them to make healthy choices.

Our school was one of the many schools that they visited and we were very fortunate to get an insider’s view of the FCD.  The factor that separates the FCD to other drug- awareness organizations is that the representatives of the FCD are previous users of drugs. José, one of the representatives of the FCD was one of three to come to our school and enlighten us. They were at the UNIS campus for a whole week and ended their stay with a meeting with the parents to spread awareness even to the adults so they could spread it to the youth. José talked to us about various themes ranging from alcohol to his own personal experiences, something that caught everyone’s attention and made them even more thrilled. He talked to us about various factors that are affected or play a huge role when you take drugs like family, age, cravings, tolerance and surroundings. A lot of activities were set up as well to help us understand the world around us better. Activities set up to inform us on the numerous things we can do to stay happy instead of taking drugs were also arranged.

The FCD program at our school worked effectively as they knocked quite a few socks off and really taught us students at UNIS a new lesson in life. It was a really informative session as each student visited two sessions in the week which was a good amount of time to absorb a lot of information. The FCD now travel past Vietnam to their next destination but we can hope that they come back soon!