KABUL, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- Volunteered to teach the skill of shoemaking to recently rehabilitated drug addicts in a rehabilitation center, locally known as Aghosh camp, outside Afghanistan's capital city Kabul, Mehdi Ghiasi said proudly over teaching the recovered addicts to learn how to make shoes.

"Anyone who joins Aghosh camp wants to learn an occupation such as tailoring, shoe making, or repairing electrical appliances. I start by teaching them the art of shoemaking," Ghiasi, with joy, told Xinhua inside the camp.

Once a victim of drug addiction with heroin for more than a decade, 33-year-old Ghiasi from the southern Kandahar province said that he was now teaching the art of shoemaking to 50 rehabilitated addicts in the morning and another 50 in the afternoon.

"I have 50 pupils in the morning shift and another 50 in the afternoon. I am truly happy to be of service and to teach these individuals," said Ghiasi.

Afghanistan, a country deeply affected by decades of war and civil strife, is reportedly home to more than 3 million drug addicts. To overcome the challenge, the Afghan caretaker government, which has banned poppy cultivation and drug trafficking, has committed to eradicating drug production and addiction.

Revealing his ordeal, Ghiasi said that he was a skilled shoe-maker, but using drugs destroyed his life and isolated him from family and friends.

Ghiasi's heart beating for his family, especially for his one-year-old daughter, encouraged him to give up using drugs two years ago.

Currently, a total of 550 rehabilitated drug addicts were receiving training to become skilled workers inside the Aghosh camp, a vocational center in Pul-e-Charkhi locality on the eastern edge of Kabul city.

Another recovered addict, Faridullah, has been learning shoe-making art to open a shop in the future.

"I have been living in the Aghosh camp for five months. I am in good health and working on the shoe-making project," Faridullah told Xinhua.

Expressing hatred toward heroin and all kinds of illicit drugs, the former drug-addict said using drugs destroys the personality of a person and discards him out of the society.

"Using drugs destroys your life and property. They ruin your honor and credibility, both at home and in the society," he said. "My goal in the future is to open a shoemaking shop after coming out from here, so I can support myself and my family."

He also had a message for drug addicts, "I urge those addicted to drugs to give up illicit drugs and join a rehabilitation center. There, they can learn a skill and receive tools they need to work for themselves," he said.

Former drug addict Sayed Yasar Sadat, 22, a former university student, was studying electro-mechanics at the camp with the hope of becoming an electrician. He planned to open a shop to repair electronic devices once he completes his four-month training course and receives his certificate.

"The duration of each course is four months, and over the past one year and a half, 1,600 individuals have graduated," said Ezatullah Rahmat, director of the camp. "After three months of treatment, recovering addicts are transferred to this camp, where 550 recovered individuals are currently receiving training to become skilled workers." Enditem

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