Zakariya Mosque Women S Group

Zakariya Mosque Women’s Group

Open Wide Workshop on 15th May 2012

I will educate my children when they tell me ‘Oh it is ok mum it is just flavoured’

The community needs to be made aware of the facts – parents do not know the dangers that their children are exposed to.

It’s a very informative workshop and has opened my eyes. I will give this information to my friends and children. CVS are doing a great job.

It was a very informative workshop – learnt a lot and we can educate our children.

Alternative Tobacco Project – Shisha

Daughters of Islam

It was very interesting. I learned that smoking shisha for 40 -45 minutes is equivalent to 100 cigarettes.

How much tar gets stuck on your lungs for smoking 10 cigarettes for a day over a year.

Seeing the tar has definitely put me off shisha

I learnt how the mouth and lungs looked when shisha was inhaled.

When I saw the way of how your teeth change I felt disgusted and learnt that shisha is very harmful.

Yasmin’s case study

I stopped smoking cigarettes 2 and a half years ago I used to smoke around 30 a day. My health wasn't good, I had breathing problems and diabetes.I decided to start using a shisha pipe as a healthy option as my perception was it doesn't harm me, it will be fine. However when I started my friends and family used to join in with me and I would use it unto 6 times or more day and night. It got to thepoint where it became a habit and I began to worry.

I do voluntary work with a youth group, the boys had been on an activity weekend at the Anderton centre and had taken part invarious health workshops with the Communityengagement workers who work for Boltoncommunity network. I could not attend the training but came to meet up with the boys later on. I found one of the flyers left behind about the dangers of using shisha pipes. I began to read the fact sheet with great interest as I had previously thought shisha pipe smoking was not harmful. i found out that about the harmful effects, the carbon monoxidethenicotine and the 40 minutes of continuous smoking is the equivalent of smoking 100 cigarettes. I was completely shocked,and talked to the other members of the group about my concerns as that night we had planned to take the boys outhave a barbeque and a shisha session We decided not to go and took part in other activities with the boys we did rock climbing, and visited Rivington castle.The boys had a great time.

From reading the flyer from Community Network I would say that " It was the straw that broke the camels back" I gave up using the shisha pipe and encouraged 3 other members to also give up.

My health has improved since giving up, I can exercise without getting out of breath. I ammentor foryoung people and I hope this story will inspire others.

Hi Samim

I just wanted to drop you a line to let you know how useful your information was on the Shisha Pipe. For over a year now I have been telling people what a great night could be had in town when visiting one of these venues that has the Shisha Pipes. I even went on a works do there about 18 months ago and have even recommended it to my family. I had no idea just how harmful these pipes were and like a lot of people that I have spoken to I thought they were harmless and didn’t actually involve real tobacco. I think one of the main reasons so many of us thought they did not contain tobacco was the fact that smoking is not allowed in any public building anymore. Thanks to your very useful information, I and my colleagues will be giving out a very different opinion now on the safety of these venues. It also goes without saying that none of us will be frequenting these venues again.

Regards

Julie Casey

Local Community Project Coordinator

Latifa Muhammed is a 27 years old woman married to Muhammad age 38; they have been married for 8 years, living in Sudan and have currently lived in England for 2 years now. Latifa attended the Open- Wide workshop at Greenhouse in May 2012. The workshop was regarding the physical effects shisha can cause to people. After listening to the representative she (Latifa) was shocked to know that shisha is bad for one’s own health and that is also has a negative effect on other people around due to passive smoking.

Latifa then told her husband Muhammad (who regularly used shisha) about the negative effects shisha can cause to himself and other people around him. As a result, Muhammad decided to start cutting his intake of shisha and hopefully stop it altogether in the near future.

Recently Latifa has told us that her husband has now quit smoking shisha due to the effects it has and as a result he has also decreased the usage of smoking cigarettes.

Hi Louise and Samim

Training for Cancer Research UK Nurses on shisha

I just wanted to say a really big thank you for coming to the nurse meeting last week.

I certainly learned a lot, and the feedback from the nurses was really positive and I know they really appreciated the time you took to come and see us.

I spoke to the Manchester team about the continuing the working relationship you have with them, and Jess was keen to look at possible opportunities during their local engagement time Dec 2012-Mar 2013.

Thanks again

Gill Kilgour

Cancer Research UK

Alternative Tobacco – Cancer Research UK Team Meeting – May 12

I found the workshop really useful. This is an area that is often discussed on the Roadshow, and I for one knew very little about it. It was really good to see what it looks like and the different types of products that there are. It has made me really aware that it is everywhere, and I have already had discussions with several friends children who see it as cool and trendy and do not associate it in any way with smoking, so it was really good to have informed conversations with them.

Gill

I found it extremely interesting and informative, it was really interesting to learn about the culture and how shisha fits into this. I was really shocked about the content of the betal leaf and how the childeren are given forms of this, it completely opened my eyes, into something I had very little knowledge about. Overall a very interesting great learning session delivered. Well done to all involved.

Joanne

I certainly found the training very interesting. I had previously seen a short film on Shisha at a Smoking Conference in Glasgow, that was the extent of my knowledge.) I found the information and presentation from the trainers gave me the confidence at the Mela Festival in Glasgow to challenge two groups I was speaking to regarding the health risks, which they were unaware of. Training well presented and interactive sessions help retain information.

Mary

I thought the training was wicked, with stuff like that the more interactive the better and that training hit the nail on the head. I personally learn more easily from actually seeing and touching things and it helps me to understand it more. The staff were really knowledgeable with the subject of shisha smoking and knew all about the cultural aspects of how people use and view it, which translated across and therefore helped to us to understand too. Was very impressed with the training and thought it was relevant to us therefore useful!

Ceri

I found the session very informative. I did not know much about Shisha etc prior to the session. The way they ran the session was excellent. It gave a good insight into the subject, giving me more confidence to talk to visitors on the Roadshow. I liked how it was very interactive.

They provide an excellent service

Catrina

I really enjoyed the Shisha session in Manchester and learnt a lot from it.

It was well delivered and informative.I found the training really useful, especially seeing the 'gear' they brought along (shisha pipe/shisha etc).

Lesley

The Shisha training was excellent and the girls that delivered it were really informative and gave the information in a very proactive and open way. I had no knowledge of shisha prior to the session and now feel confident to speak to our visitors on the roadshow about the dangers of Shisha. I would recommend this training to others. Having worked with the team recently in Bolton I would also recommend the work that they do in engaging with the public and getting the messages about shisha and the health implications of using it and other "smokeless"" tobacco products.

Martin

I thought the Shisha training was fantastic. The London team were at a Mela after the training where there was a shisha tent. The tent was extremely popular, obviously a meeting and social place to be visited by families with young children as well as young adults with older relatives.

Going through the whole of the session with the great team from Bolton gave me the confidence to go along and chat to them and encourage them to visit the unit to talk more about this issue. I don’t think I would have been able to do this had it not been for the knowledge I had gained at the training.

Gwen