The Marita Foundation was established in Oslo in 1984. The objective of the Foundation is to prevent young people to start using drugs and to help drug addicts to start a new life. Currently, Marita-Norway with the support of the Norwegian Government, is building up a Macedonian counterpart, Marita-Macedonia.
03/10/2006 :: The Marita Foundation is involved in a number of activities in fields spanning prevention and rehabilitation. The Marita-Macedonia Foundation started to operate as affiliate of Marita-Norway in December 2003. It turned into a local Marita-Macedonia Foundation in late 2005. Since December of 2003, Marita has visited nearly 110 high schools throughout the Republic of Macedonia. where they have engaged in over 166 sessions and testimonials. Through this, they have reached over 14000 students with their message of hope.
In the spring of 2005, Marita Macedonia began publishing a magazine, printing 6000 copies for the first issue. This is published 3 times a year. The magazine aims to enlighten young people about Marita and it's mission. wich is "stop before you start".
Marita-Macedonia is financed by the Foreign Ministry of the Kingdom of Norway, the Norwegian NGO "New Start" and the Marita-Norway Foundation.
About Marita:
The Marita Foundation was established in 1984 by Leiv O. Holstad. The aim of the foundation is to prevent youth from experimenting with drugs, and to help those who are already addicted to create a new and meaningful life without drugs. To achieve this goal the Marita Foundation is engaged in a number of activities of preventive and rehabilitating nature. The name ”Marita” came out of the first documentary film on drug abuse, produced by founder Leiv O. Holstad in 1983. Hans-Inge Fagervik wrote the song ”Farvel, Marita” (”Goodbye, Marita”), which became the title song of the movie. When the foundation was established the choice of name fell on Marita.
Roger Bruland