I found home

Hardship. Trauma. Pressure. Loss. Boredom.  The reasons why people start taking drugs in Egypt are as manifold as the substances they consume. According to the statistics, one fifth of the adult population uses drugs on a regular basis, the most vulnerable of them being the youth.

What the numbers cannot portrait, however, is the mindset of the addict whose thoughts and body are possessed by self-destruction.

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Seeking help in a country that largely regards drugs abuse as a taboo is not easy. Especially, if the common belief about the inside of rehabilitation centers creates an image of isolated cells where crazy inmates await electroshock therapy sessions, being dressed in straitjackets. I have come across those imaginations many times. Because I too am an addict.

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 what I found in the rehabilitation center is not what I had imagined: Warmth, trust, community. – A safe place free of judgment but full of support. A comfortable space. A home. Through my documentary project, I seek to capture the atmosphere of the rehab where addicts like me get the help they need to get back on their feed.

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Visually, this will be done by following the daily routines and structures of prayers, group therapy sessions, and leisure activities at one rehabilitation center in Cairo, its all-male residents, and mentors who are ex-addicts themselves.