Drug Misuse Community Service Project
The first Drug Abuse and Misuse Awareness Project meeting was held on October 18th at Hall 301 in the Faculty of Pharmacy by Dr. Shaymaa, Dr. Dlanpar, and Dr. Zahraa in the presence of the Dean of Students’ Representative and the Coordinator of the Faculty of Pharmacy Dr. Rozhan. In the meeting, the mission and goals of the community service project were discussed with the volunteering faculty students. The duties were assigned to each volunteer as a team. The targeted schools for this event in Erbil were also marked for each team. At the end of the meeting, questions and points of view of each student were taken into consideration.
The Faculty of Pharmacy at Tishk International University launched a series of awareness programs for local schools. The project aimed to unite students and staff members to prevent drug abuse by youth in our community. It also aimed to raise awareness and provide a range of skills, knowledge, and understanding surrounding substance misuse. A series of practice sessions were held for all the pharmacy student volunteers with the organizers, Dr. Shaymaa, Dr. Dlanpar, and Dr. Zahraa, on different days in preparation for the event day.
On February 22nd, the Faculty of Pharmacy arranged a visit to Nilufer Girls’ High School. The Nilufer Girls’ High School President and the Vice President discussed the important effect of such activities on our community and young generations. The activity was organized and supervised by Dr. Zahraa, Dr. Shaymaa, and Dr. Dlanpar, with the Dean of students’ representative, Dr. Zeynel Polat. Third-grade and fourth-grade students participated in this project. The Nilufer Girls’ High School visit was part of the series of activities of the Drug Misuse Awareness Project. At the start of the seminar, the students introduced the faculty and themselves to each class.Rebaz Nabaz and Tara Ibrahim, third-grade pharmacy students, talked about analgesic misuse and overuse in our community, followed by Sara Hawraz and Yad Haval, who presented the misuse and overuse of antibiotics as the second part of the seminar. The third part of the seminar was delivered by Ahmed Azad and Helin Ibrahim, fourth-grade students, who discussed the danger of smoking and vaping in our community and especially among youths. Shara Sirwan, a third-grade pharmacy student, supported each team throughout the event.
Tishk International University arranged a visit to Ishik Ronaki International School on January 22nd 2023, as a part of the series of activities for the Drug Misuse Awareness Project. The activity was organized and supervised by Dr. Zahraa, Dr. Shaymaa, and Dr. Dlanpar and coordinated by the Dean of Student Representatives at the Faculty of Pharmacy. Faculty staff members and students were warmly welcomed in the Presidency Office by Ishik Ronaki International School. Both sides emphasized the importance of the topic and considered the impact of awareness programs on the youths in general and school students in particular. The event was performed in two separate sessions. First, the students started by introducing themselves to the class. Third-grade pharmacy students Tara Ibrahim and Rebaz Nabaz presented a presentation about antibiotic misuse and overuse in our community as the first part of the seminar, followed by Yad Haval and Sara Hawraz, third-grade students who presented the misuse and overuse of antibiotics. The third part of the seminar, where the danger of smoking and vaping in the young community was discussed, was presented by Helin Ibrahim and Ahmed Azad. Shara Sirwan, a third-grade pharmacy student, captured the moments of each session.
As a last contribution to the community service project, the project’s organizers, Dr. Zahraa, Dr. Shaymaa, and Dr. Dlanpar, with the representatives of the Dean of Student Representative at the Faculty of Pharmacy Dr. Zeynel Polat, visited Ishik Gulan International School to raise awareness among school students on January 22nd 2023. A seminar regarding the project was presented, and the pharmacy students introduced themselves to the attending students and explained the importance and danger of drug misuse and the adverse effects on the body’s different body organs and the complications that can follow. They further discussed how drugs could be efficiently and correctly used to produce beneficial effects rather than drug misuse-induced adverse effects. The team also introduced ways of preventing the abuse of drugs. The seminar was presented by pharmacy third-grade students Yad Haval, and Rebaz Nabaz and fourth-grade student Ahmed Azad, and was followed by a session of questions, where the interested students asked their questions. The third-grade students Sara Hawraz, Tara Ibrahim, Shara Sirwan, and fourth-grade student Helin Ibrahim were delighted to answer all their questions. In the end, the faculty students advised the school students regarding their future and encouraged them to keep themselves highly motivated and dedicated during their academic journey. To wrap up the event, the school students asked questions and showed interest in this topic. The volunteering students gave a closing speech and thanked the school and staff members for their hospitality and interest in this topic. Both the school staff and the faculty staff gave valuable feedback and emphasized the importance of this subject to the youths in our community.
On February 23rd, 2023, the Faculty of Pharmacy at Tishk International University and the Dean of Student Representatives organized a closing ceremony for Drug Misuse Awareness Community Service Project. The ceremony was attended by the Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy, Prof. Dr. Vedat Koksal, Head of Department, Dr. Esra Bayraktar, faculty staff members, and our beloved 3rd and 4th-grade students that volunteered in the project.
The event aimed to honour the significant contributions of staff and students for their participation and success in the community service project. It also aimed to shed light on how students played an essential role in the Drug Misuse Awareness Service Project. The ceremony commenced with a short speech by the Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy, Prof. Dr. Vedat Koksal, in which he welcomed all attending staff and students, emphasizing the importance of raising awareness of drug misuse in our society and how to prevent them. The Dean expressed his appreciation for the valuable contributions made and shared his contentment with the energy, enthusiasm, and perseverance displayed by the students during this project.
He also highlighted his pleasure to all the attending and all the student volunteers participating in Drug Misuse and Overuse Project, explained how such actions change society and set a significant model for others to follow. Certificates of Appreciation were given to supervisors, organizers, and volunteering students to value their outstanding participation and cooperation. This closing ceremony was also celebrated by arranging a gathering between the pharmacy staff and students in the campus garden. On behalf of the Faculty of Pharmacy, we would like to thank all the Ishik and Nilufer school staff for their collaboration and great hospitality and to all the students and staff who organized and volunteered in the Drug Misuse Awareness project, and we hope to see continuous and more contributions to community service activities.
