International Facilitator Spotlights Are Here!
Join us in celebrating the amazing people around the world making a difference within the SMART Recovery Global Community!
May 2024 Meeting Facilitator Features Mel Du Toit of South Africa
Opening New Doors For Recovery & Fellowship
When and how did you hear about SMART?
In January 2023. I was very disillusioned with NA and knew it wasn't the right path for me but was totally unaware that there were alternatives. I did a Google dive and came across SMART Recovery after about an hour, attended one meeting, and knew I had found the right program for me! I still remember, it was the day that I was going to tell my father about my addiction, because I needed his help to pay for rehab, and the facilitator did a role-play with me on how it may go, and this really helped!
What made you decide to start facilitating a SMART meeting?
SMART is a huge part of me staying clean, first attempt, and I wanted to share this with as many other people as I could who were struggling with addiction. I knew not everyone who is as vulnerable as you are at the start, will go to American meetings, so I thought, let me start my own one. I did not expect it to do as well as it did! It took about 2 months to get over 4 attendees and we now have over 20 members who attend most meetings.
Why do you think there's a need for SMART in South Africa?
Addiction is rife in South Africa, and access to rehabilitation is only for those who have medical insurance (or medical aid as it is called locally), which is sadly not the case for the majority of South Africans (only 15.8% of the population is on medical aid). And to give you context as to the cost of medical aid - it is 25% of my monthly salary. In addition to that, only 2 rehabs in the Western Cape (where I am) are non-12 step. I ended up doing an outpatient program which my insurance wouldn't cover, but I am privileged that my father could pay for it. VERY few South Africans have this luxury. We have a young lady who lives in a homeless shelter who joins our meeting when she has data to do so. She is in recovery from meth and mandrax addiction (these drugs are very common amongst the homeless population). She was the recipient of one of the donated SMART Recovery handbooks.
What is the biggest challenge for people wanting to recover from addictions in South Africa?
I would have to say finances, and lack of knowledge of the options. Very few rehabs do more than 3-week programs (the maximum insurance will pay for).
This is why I pay to run Facebook campaigns for our meetings, to reach far and wide. This is how Tintin (who is currently on the waiting list for a bursary) learnt about SMART.
What are your plans for SMART in South Africa?
My plans, in the ideal world, are by the end of 2023 to have at least 4 qualified facilitators including myself and Derek.
Ross will take over my Wednesday meeting when he finishes his studies, and I am currently doing the family and friends course, so when I am ready, I will start a F&F meeting in South Africa as well. Eventually, I'd love to have 5 weekly meetings at least running in South Africa, to the point where we can have an African meeting finder on our website :) And then scaling on from that, I would love to have another female facilitator who can start a women's meeting, and also an LGBTQ+ meeting. I have also reached out to the very few government rehabilitations and offered to teach SMART Recovery to their staff for free, so we can get this incredible, self-empowering alternative to become the new norm in treatment in South Africa.
Our meetings (Derek and I) are also attended regularly by members in Germany, Italy, Kenya and Tanzania, as the times work well for their time zones :)