Sunshine Enlightens the Way to Return
- People’s Daily & People’s Daily Online’s access to "Sunshine Project” of Guizhou (4)

Psychological treatment – remove metal barriers

“Sunshine Project” Liu Bo mentioned is a new model of community-based drug treatment and rehabilitation promoted by Guizhou Province which is purposed to enhance people's ability to reintegrate into the society by offering them job opportunities to the government’s utmost after their treatment. By now, the relapse rate of the rehabilitated accommodated in the sunshine enterprises is no higher than 2 percent.

While the national average is 51.6 percent within one month after leaving the drug rehabilitation center, and 88 percent one year later after leaving, according to statistics of CNNCC. By the end of May, the population who have rehabilitated for three years is 33,000, a three-year-withdrawal rate of 33.2 percent.

“The ‘Sunshine Project’ plays an important role in the reduction of relapse rate. As Cui Yadong, member of Standing Committee, secretary of Politics and Law Committee, director of Narcotics Control Committee, secretary of Party Committee of and head of Public Security Department of Guizhou Province, introduced that Guizhou is among the worst-hit areas of drug abuse as adjacent to the “Golden Triangle”, the world’s major origin of drugs; the serious outsiders drug trafficking and huge group of drug addicts make the narcotics control task an arduous and challenging one. A series of social problems arising therefrom with the spread of new type of drugs and synthetic drugs combined with a weak management to the drug users after their treatment. The abusers have nothing cared about but to get drugs from time to time and they are driven to crazy for that, for getting rid of the mental and physical torture because of addiction. The costly price they have to pay is to be deserted by friends and allies, or been put in jail.

Wenwen has worked in the plant for more than a year and she never relapsed since her employment. She said that she earns regular income from the job and enjoys an enriched life with dignity. You would never suppose this beautiful and fashionable mid-age lady used to be a drug abuser if nobody tells you so.
“I was deluded to taste drugs when I was 24. I can’t help taking drugs ever since then. Times of reeducation through labor over the past years failed to end my fallen life, a life under the shadow of drug addiction. I did not totally wake up until my love and all my family members broke from me” she added.
However, things turned to be crueler than what she had imagined as every time she was refused for a job after the employer had checked her records. Helpless, helplessness was what hurt her most those days.

She said one would get nothing to do but to endure once having taken drugs, not only the mental and physical suffering due to addiction, but also prejudice and discrimination everywhere, anywhere.

She managed to run some small businesses, but fell by the wayside. It was the job placement to this plant that enabled her to resume a normal life.
As Cui Yadong explained, “the rehabilitated is among the social vulnerable groups seriously in need of our love and care. It is really hard for them to be reintegrated into the society after treatment. They are regarded as people anti-social so they may tend to return to their original life circle where a vicious circle starts. In this regard, the focus of the project should be on improving the manner of social administration with care, encouragement, reasonability and thoughtfulness, besides assisting them in employment.”