Willingway to Host International Exchange

Willingway Hospital is proud to host Hamed Abdel-Ghaffar, director of the Al-Dar Recovery House located in Cairo, Egypt, for a three month clinical fellowship program which began January 16. Mr. Abdel-Ghaffar is sponsored by the Willingway Foundation, the non-profit charitable extension of Willingway Hospital, in an effort to improve addiction recovery opportunities around the globe. Projects in Russia, Romania, Bosnia and other nations have helped to promote the success of Willingway’s unique approach to the treatment of addictive illness.

Abdel-Ghaffar met Dr. Al Mooney, director of the Willingway Foundation, when Dr. Mooney visited his facility while touring Egypt in 2005. “I’m here to establish a relationship between Willingway and Al-Dar,” states Abdel-Ghaffar. “It’s an exchange of methodology, treatment and management. Every day I attend patient and staff groups and meetings, and I participate in counseling, as well. It’s really a two-way learning experience, seeing how other counselors conduct groups here and how the facility is managed. Willingway has exactly what I’d like to see happening in Egypt. It is very well structured; I can see a very well qualified staff that is clear with their philosophy, and good teamwork.”

According to Abdel-Ghaffar, substance abuse and addiction is definitely an issue in Egypt. He states that prior to the year 2000, addicts were most often hospitalized and treated by psychiatrists. Now, with the introduction of 12-step programs and recovery facilities such as Al-Dar, there are more options. Today, there are approximately 40 treatment centers in Egypt. In 2000, there were an estimated 30 alcoholics and addicts in recovery, now the estimated number is 4,000.

In an effort to continue to assist those struggling with addiction, Abdel-Ghaffar states, “I would like to take Willingway back with me. I want to enhance my personal capacities and ambitions, and to learn to do a more difficult job in counseling and in management of treatment facilities. Also a personal goal for me is to get accredited (as a certified addiction counselor) in the United States. I’m trying to initiate, or help initiate the counseling profession in Egypt. I’m also working on a training proposal for the Egyptian government, to develop a training program for addition counselors.” Abdel-Ghaffar has also visited the Center for Addiction Recovery at Georgia Southern University to learn how the center is assisting recovering students at the university level.

Jimmy Mooney, Willingway CEO, states, “Our goal is not only to help alcoholics and addicts who are directly in our care, but to assist in spreading the Willingway abstinence-based philosophy of addictions, which is regarded as one of the most cost-effective and historically successful recovery methodologies. We are honored to be able to host Hamed, and sincerely hope that he will be able to take back with him what he has learned here to those recovering overseas.”

Abdel-Ghaffar is enjoying familiarizing himself with the Statesboro community, as well. “Many people have told me that when they complete treatment at Willingway or graduate from one of the recovery residences, they choose to stay and live in Statesboro, which is very helpful for continuous sobriety. It is a small city where there seems to be no stigma regarding people in recovery.” He plans to visit Savannah and Jekyll Island while he is here, and has enjoyed dinning at local restaurants Christopher’s and Emma’s, which he says are “very tasty and very cosmopolitan.”