DIJBOUTI: THE POPULATION OF DIJBOUTI CONTINUE TO BE ADDICTED TO CHEWING THE NARCOTIC PLANT KHAT

Record ID: 646228

  • Title: DIJBOUTI: THE POPULATION OF DIJBOUTI CONTINUE TO BE ADDICTED TO CHEWING THE NARCOTIC PLANT KHAT
  • Date: 28th October 1998
  • Summary: DJIBOUTI CITY, DJIBOUTI (RECENT) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) 1. CLOSE UP OF WALID DERIE CHEWING KHAT 2. DERIE SAYING "MY WIFE IS VERY WORRIED. SHE SAYS STOP BUT I CAN'T" (SOMALI WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATION) 3. DERIE AND OTHER MEN SITTING ON GROUND CHEWING KHAT 4. CLOSE UP OF KHAT PLANT IN SOMEONE'S HAND 5. DERIE CHEWING 6. KHAT PLANT 7. KHAT PLANTS BEING SOLD AT MARKET 8. DERIE SAYING "THE MONEY TO BUY CLOTHES OR FOOD FOR MY CHILDREN I SPEND ON KHAT. IT AFFECTS MY CHILDREN. I TRY TO STOP AND WHEN I STOP FOR ONE OR TWO DAYS I GO BACK TO MY KHAT" (SOMALI WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATION) 9. PEOPLE SITTING ON GROUND WITH KHAT PLANTS 10. VARIOUS PEOPLE CHEWING 11. DERIE SAYING "WHEN I EAT KHAT I WANT MORE SEX" (SOMALI WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATION) 12. ISHMAEL SAYING "RIGHT NOW IT'S HAVING A GOOD EFFECT. IT'S A GOOD EFFECT. BY FIVE I WILL BE NICE, BY EIGHT I WILL BE FEELING VERY HOT AND BY 9.30 -10 I WILL HAVE TO GO OUT AND LOOK FOR A WOMAN" (FRENCH WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATION) 13. ISHMAEL CHEWING 14. ISHMAEL SAYING "MY FATHER EATS IT EVERYONE EATS IT SO I EAT IT TOO." (FRENCH WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATION) 15. INTERIOR OF BAR WHERE THOSE WHO DON'T LIKE KHAT GO 16. CLOSE UP OF BEER GLASS FULL OF WATER 17. HOTEL OWNER ISHMAEL SAYING "I DON'T LIKE KHAT. I DON'T EAT IT. I WOULD LIKE FOR NO ONE TO EAT KHAT." (FRENCH WITH ENGLISH SPEECH) 18. MOHAMMED ABDUL RAHMAN SAYING "IT CAUSES A LOT OF HEALTH PROBLEMS. IT CAUSES A LOT OF FINANCIAL PROBLEMS. WHEN YOU EAT KHAT YOU HAVE A LOT OF WORRIES. ABOVE ALL WHEN YOU EAT KHAT YOU HAVE TO SPEND ALL YOUR TIME DOING IT, MORNING TO NIGHT. SO YOU DON'T HAVE MUCH TIME TO DO OTHER THINGS." (FRENCH WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATION) 19. ISHMAEL CHEWING KHAT 20. SACKS OF KHAT BEING UNLOADED FROM PLANE 21. PLANE TAKING OFF 22. STREET SCENE 23. AICHA DIBIL SELLING KHAT 24. DIBIL SAYING "WHEN MY HUSBAND LOST HIS JOB, I DIDN'T GET ANY MONEY TO FEED MY CHILDREN. I STARTED TO SELL KHAT." (SOMALI WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATION) 25. MAN AND CHILD 26. DIBIL WALKING DOWN ALLEY 27. DIBIL AT HER HUT WITH HER CHILDREN/ PREPARING FOOD 28. CLOSE UP OF TWO OF HER CHILDREN 29. DIBIL PUTTING KHAT INTO SACK 30. TRADERS SELLING KHAT/ TRYING TO HIDE THEIR FACES FROM CAMERAS 31. KHAT BEING SOLD 32. DIBIL SAYING "IN THE FUTURE IF MY HUSBAND GETS A JOB AND I GET ANOTHER JOB, IT WILL BE BETTER" (SOMALI WITH FRENCH TRANSLATION) 33. TRADERS SELLING KHAT 34. MAN CARRYING SACK OF KHAT 35. HOTEL OWNER ISHMAEL SAYING "I TRY TO GIVE PEOPLE LOTS OF WORK SO THEY DON'T HAVE TIME TO EAT KHAT." (FRENCH WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATION) 36. ABDILLAH SAAED GETTING OUT OF CAR/ SAYING "AND IT DOESN'T NEED ONLY TO TELL THOSE WHO CHEW KHAT BUT I THINK IT NEEDS TO INFORM THE WHOLE WORLD, THE WHOLE ORGANISATION, THE UNITED NATIONS AND ALL KINDS OF ORGANISATIONS TO INFORM THEM OF THE EFFECTS OF KHAT, AND THE WHOLE WORLD COMMUNITY SHOULD JOINTLY FIGHT AGAINST KHAT ,AND TO CREATE ORGANISATIONS THAT FIGHT AGAINST KHAT AS WELL AS THEY DO AGAINST OTHER DRUGS" (FRENCH AND ENGLISH TRANSLATION) 38. TRADERS CARRYING SACKS OF KHAT Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 12th November 1998 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: DJIBOUTI CITY, DJIBOUTI
  • Country: Djibouti
  • Reuters ID: LVA7R8HRI64CNQ21M1WVDDYS2GVS
  • Story Text: The plant hanging from this man's mouth, slowly
    disappearing as he chews, could be destroying his life and
    jeopardising his family's future.

    "My wife is very worried, she says 'Stop' but I
    can't", says mechanic Walid Derie.

    Like many others in Djibouti, Walid Derie is addicted to
    the narcotic plant commonly known as khat or mira.Derie says
    he spends eight hours a day chewing the plant's leaves.

    Depending on the quality, a half kilo of khat ranges in
    price from one dollar fifty to six dollars.It's a habit that
    swallows up half his income.

    "The money I get to buy clothes or food for my children I
    spend on khat.It affects my children.I try to stop and when
    I stop for one or two days I go back to my khat."
    There are no reliable statistics on how many people are
    addicted to khat in Djibouti.But the sight of people chewing
    is common and a generally held belief is that addiction is
    widespread among men and women from all social classes.

    Another khat addict, Ishmael says "Right now it's having a
    good effect.It's a good effect.By five it will be nice, by
    eight I will be feeling very hot and by 9:30-10:00 I have to
    go out and look for a woman."
    Ishmael got hooked on khat simply because his father was.

    People who don't chew khat are so rare in Djibouti city,
    they meet at a special bar.

    Hotel owner Ishmael can't stand khat."I don't like khat.

    I don't eat it.I would like for no one to eat khat."
    Mohammed Abdul Rahman agrees."It causes a lot of health
    problems.It causes a lot of financial problems.When you eat
    khat you have a lot of worries.Above all when you eat khat
    you have to spend all your time doing it, morning to night.So
    you don't have much time to do other things."
    But while some grow poor and dependent, others survive on
    the plant.Khat is legally traded in most of Africa.In
    Djibouti wholesale importers make healthy profits bringing in
    plane-loads of khat from Ethiopia, while small traders like
    Aicha Dibil sell khat all day long to keep their families
    alive.

    Aicha Dibil's husband chews khat as well."When my husband
    lost his job and I didn't get any money to feed my child I
    started to sell khat."
    She has eight children and a jobless husband to take care
    of.She makes about one hundred and forty dollars a month
    selling khat.Most times she works late into the night.What
    she earns is only enough to pay school fees for two of her
    children, and the long hours mean her oldest daughter must
    take care of the rest.

    Small traders like her take no pride in selling khat and
    most shy away from cameras out of shame.Dibil's hope is to
    one day give up the trade.

    "In the future if my husband gets a job and I get another
    job it will be better."
    But while there are no official efforts to stem khat
    addiction, in Djibouti, some individuals have made it their
    personal mission to save others from the scourge.

    Ishmael says "I try to give people lots of work so they
    don't have time to eat khat."
    But personal efforts to tackle the problem are not enough
    says Abdillah Saaed.

    "And it doesn't need only to tell those who chew chat but
    I think it needs to inform the whole world, the whole
    organisation, the UN and all kinds of organisations to inform
    them of the effects of khat and the world community should
    jointly fight against khat and create organisations that fight
    against khat as well as they do against other drugs."
    Given the magnitude of the khat trade in East Africa and
    the widespread use of the plant in countries like Djibouti,
    governments in the region are unlikely to move against khat in
    the near future.
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