28 years of dedication to prevention, 28 years of supporting the local community, 28 years of shielding against the shadows of addiction and social isolation. In a sudden move, like a violent rupture of ties, 75 prevention centres are being wiped off the map, victims of a law that resembles unbridled censorship.
Prevention without foresight: an oxymoron, a blow to the very essence of social welfare. How can you prevent when prevention is forbidden? How can you shield a community when the voices that warn are silenced?
Prevention centres: not just buildings, but centres of light, warm welcome bays, bridges of communication. There, young people found support, listened to guidance, felt the embrace of prevention. There, families drew strength, learned coping tools, experienced the hope of change.
And now? Silence. Emptiness. Uncertainty. Prevention centers are closing, leaving behind a traumatized social landscape. Prevention is sacrificed on the altar of rampant censorship, leaving the most vulnerable members of the community exposed.
Is it time to look up? To raise our voices against uncritical silencing? To demand the right to prevention, to anticipation, to protection?
Let us not allow the darkness to win. Let us become the voice of the prevention centers, the shield that will shield the community, the flame that will rekindle HOPE.
Prevention is not a luxury. It is a necessity. It is a right. It is a duty. Let us defend it.
