Looks like Brood members are staying clean and helping others to recover. Good work.

[him] moderator

++++++++++++++++++++

Music helps former users heal misery of addiction
By Than Htike Oo and Zon Pann Pwint
January 3 - 9, 2011

KO Hla Htun Myo tells an all too common story of drug use leading to addiction and, in turn, the loss of friends, family and self-respect. But though his drug abuse was defining, now that he is free of them he, and others like him, are working to make sure that they are not defined by their past.

“Hardly an hour would go by without thinking about drugs,” recounts the former injecting drug user, who finally underwent a two-week “cold turkey” program at a hospital in Yangon to help free him from his addiction.

Ko Hla Htun Myo gradually overcame his urge to inject but to do this he needed both distraction and the support of friends and family.

“The worst thing about being a drug addict was the social stigma it carried, followed by the family’s neglect and feeling abandoned. These feelings spurred me to gather my divided peers and encourage them to do whatever good deeds they could to change the way people view users of drugs,” he said.

To do this, he and other former drug users in 2003 set up the Youth Empowerment Team (YET), which later branched out into a music band called Brood in 2007. The band members are mostly former injecting drug users. Ko Hla Htun Myo plays the shaker.

The band made their debut at a World AIDS Day event in 2008 and have continued to perform since then.

“When thoughts of drugs began to form in our minds, we would sing out loud and play guitar. It was a great way of diverting ourselves during restless days. We got into the habit of playing and singing and the idea of creating a band together gradually took form,” explained the musician.

To purchase instruments, the band collected K3000 a month from each of the members and pooled the funds. As is so often the case in Myanmar, the first instrument they bought was an acoustic guitar.

Still, overcoming the social stigma toward former injecting drug users was difficult.

“It took years to make others believe in us, they had doubts about whether we were still trapped in the vicious circle of drug use,” he said.

“Those who held us in contempt have come to accept us; they had thought that we had sunk into a vortex of addiction from which we could never be freed. But they have now come to see that we can eventually break the habit,” he added.

Ko Sithu, who organised the band, says they mostly sing about issues related to young people, such as how to avoid spreading HIV. The songs also feature lyrics about good health practices for those living with the virus.

“We point out the difficulties, drawing our strength from the courage of others,” he said.

But overall, the band seeks to reach out to people and support those in need.

“There are a number of drug users who may have only taken the drug once but are living in seclusion, trying to hold back from taking the wrong path or at risk of relapsing into old habits. We are trying to find those people in society,” said Ko Sithu.

The group practises three times a week at the Myanmar Anti-Narcotics Association’s office on 26 Kyun Taw Street in Yangon’s Kamaryut township. Although the band is not particularly well known, they do perform at parties and formal ceremonies.

“Currently, we have 16 amateurs. Next year a few girls will join the band,” said musician and composer Ko Min, a drug addict for many years.

“I was a recluse, but my friends came to my house and I was rehabilitated. I overcame my addiction with the help and effort of my friends, who, by that time, had already kicked their habit. After I had finished months of rehab, I joined the band and started to compose music for it,” he said.

“My thoughts do not drift back to the drugs because the music heals.”

http://www.mmtimes.com/2010/timeout/556/timeout55601.html