This blog was originally posted on Drugreporter

Meet Zahra, a mother from Kenya, who is speaking up against punitive drug policies.

The video was produced with the support of Drugreporter. We’d like to say a huge thank you to Drugreporter for making this possible. 

In this short film, produced by Cara Lavan, a member of the Drugreporter video network, meet Zahra the newest member of Anyone’s Child Kenya.

Zahra is one of a growing movement of families in Kenya speaking out about her sons struggles with drug addiction and describing how Kenya’s highly punitive drug policy made her family’s situation worse.

She discusses the extensive stigma around drug use in Kenya and how as a parent of a drug user she felt judged by her community. Zahra has lived in secrecy with her son’s problems for years but she now feels the time has come for her to speak out -to expose the scale of the problem and to put pressure on the government to make change a reality.

Zahra is keen to encourage others to speak out as well and has been at the forefront of championing Anyone’s Child in Kenya.

If you’ve been impacted, no matter where you are in the world, and have a story to share please get in contact: info@anyoneschild.org

Anyone’s Child: Families for safer drug control