How I Got Back on Track

[Music] first of all i'm nervous i'm a human being first and foremost then i'm a father and a husband then a rehabilitated addict five years four months and five days you asked what i was like as a youth at certain points i was introverted and shy and insecure but then i was pretending to be a hoodlum you could say i first went to prison when i was 18. i served six more terms i spent almost 10 years in jail i lived to use drugs and i use drugs to live i do anything to get it fixed and the end justifies the means as they say so i'd stop at nothing and they pay the price just a look would make me explode let alone the world at first the government tried to help me through the juvenile service but then they lost faith [Music] my release date approaches all i can think about is how to regain all the years i lost how to make some easy money and how to keep using drugs to cover up all the emotions and feelings and emptiness and loneliness and lack of self-esteem and insecurity and my terrible self-image in between i tried rehab through all sorts of therapeutic groups but they didn't work [Music] i remember the very first moment my son was with the foster family since he was about half a year old his mother was in prison too the welfare bureau decided to put him up for adoption and they brought him to jail to say goodbye to me they told them it was the last visit and they were putting him up for adoption and he came with a forced smile just to show he wasn't afraid [Music] that's it i'll do everything i have to do for him from now on i finished a rehab process for almost a year and a half in a hostel and i had to rent an apartment for myself at the same time i got the verdict 300 hours of community service [Music] and i asked my social worker for help and one way she helped was through the initiative of food security a cow a box of vegetables a box of fruit and a box of dried goods rice sugar and that's how it began as someone who wanted to strike a new path the initiative gave me an opportunity an outstretched hand a push a feeling that i'm not alone four years on i married again before this i was a single father i worked as a counselor with high high-risk young men and women addicts for almost four years now these young men and women come from the lowest darkest places which society doesn't see [Music] they are our invisibles [Music] i work with them every day from morning to night and i see these young men and women who want something else they want a different life without drugs they want to live and enjoy life not just to survive they leave prison without id cards without bus passes without hm workouts unable to communicate or cope with no routine no hygiene the most basic things and you have to teach them like little kids once a week we go out and do volunteer work to give to society we go to the pantry packer plant to pack food with music and a pleasant atmosphere and we all have one aim to give we receive a warm welcome a smile and a kind world and an opportunity and trust me the initiative grants us it opens the door for us it gives us a chance to show that we aren't who society thinks we are these kids really want to give and they're sensitive and tender and this is exactly what they need a kind world war and love and trust and mainly an opportunity to know that they are not monsters we go out and give to others i can only hold on to what i have by giving to others [Music] our young men and women need someone who believe in them help them i can't imagine being anywhere else i'm doing what i love and the feedback i receive shows that i'm good at what i [Music] this do has helped me it helped me live on the day were born god decided that the world can't exist without you and that's exactly how it is being a significant part of the lives of others being part of the lives of others [Music]