Awareness campaigns target smoking and drug addiction
Live music, guest speakers, creative posters and useful fact sheets drew in students on both campuses and heightened awareness of substance abuse, coinciding with World No Tobacco Day.
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Students sing awareness songs in Beirut.
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From left: Beirut Guidance Director Janine Zakka, Hnein, reformed addict and Doumit cutting a cake on the occasion.
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Click any image to view all four pictures.
Live music, guest speakers, creative posters and useful fact sheets drew in students on both campuses and heightened awareness of substance abuse, coinciding with World No Tobacco Day.
The WHO-initiated day to refrain from smoking is observed around the world every year on May 31.
In Beirut, the Health Office tackled the topic of drug addiction. “The brain is Ecstasy’s precious junk food,” was one of many phrases meant to alert students to the physical and mental consequences of addiction.
A band of LAU students played songs they composed specially for the occasion.
Marie José Hnein, who majors in business at LAU and won the Miss Lebanon 2003 contest, then took to the stage to share what she learned through participation in health awareness campaigns. “Make life your only addiction,” was her advice to fellow students.
A former drug addict showed courage in talking about family and social conditions that led him to addiction. Beirut campus nurse and campaign organizer Rita Doumit commended him for opening up his harrowing experiences for those who wanted to listen.
Photos of the event are available on the SDEM website.
In Byblos, the Guidance Office and the First Aid Club held an anti-smoking campaign with the aim of promoting a smoke-free campus.
A competition was organized to help smokers control the bad habit. A “quitter kit” was distributed to all participants with sugar-free juice, lollipops, chewing gum and ice cream, fat-free yogurt and milk, soya biscuits and herbal tea.
Three specialized centers—Tobacco Free Initiative, Skoun (Lebanese Addiction Center) and IQS Center—participated in the event. Their representatives answered student concerns and gave advice on the techniques they offer to help people quit smoking and drugs.
The campus events were similar to previous ones LAU organized to take a proactive role in prevention of issues that touch the lives of students.
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