A Murang’a based Anti-drug abuse and addiction champion has called for concerted efforts towards increased sensitization on addiction and rehabilitation of persons struggling to stop addiction.
Moses Kimenchu, an addiction counselor, speaking during the Family Day at Sergeant Savior Mentorship and Counseling Centre (SMECC) said sensitization and creating awareness on matters of drug addiction is indispensable in the fight against drug and substance abuse.
He noted that there is a need for various stakeholders to raise awareness on addiction to give hope to those struggling with leaving the vice and in line with directing as to where they can seek treatment and rehabilitation.
“We need all stakeholders to come together and create awareness for more young people to know when and where to seek help from,” Kimenchu said.
“If we could be creating awareness in the churches, villages and schools we can make great progress,” he added.
He called on those struggling with addiction and do not know where to start the recovery journey to seek professional help saying that although it is not easy it will help them get their lives back on track.
The Family Day at SMECC brought together the families of clients currently undergoing rehabilitation and people who have successfully been rehabilitated through the facility.
“We celebrate together because of the recovery and the progress for those in rehabilitation centers are making,” Kimenchu said.
He added that it is important for those who are progressing well in their recovery journey to be a part of the Family Day so that those currently struggling with the vice can be inspired.
“We are here to encourage and pray for those in the various stages of the recovery journey and inspire them not to give up,” he said.
The addiction counsellor called upon the government to support those already offering rehabilitation services as well as set up more rehabilitation centres in all the counties.
Reverend Mwangi Chege, a recovering alcoholic, narrated his struggle through the trenches of addiction divulging that he first started drinking when he joined the university in an attempt to fit in with his friends, noting what started as having fun quickly got out of hand.
Speaking about his struggle with addiction even after he was ordained as a priest, the reverend said, as a man of the cloth, denial was one of the biggest challenges in his recovery journey.
“I tried to hide my problem because of denial and stigma, when I got married, my wife was among the first people to help me but I still resisted the idea of rehabilitation,” he said.
He noted that his faith led him to believe the problem was purely spiritual and not one that needed medical intervention.
“I went into the program twice and it was during the second time that I accepted I had a problem,” he said.
According to Chege, accepting addiction is a disease that could have been genetic given his own father’s struggle with alcoholism marked the beginning of his sobriety journey.
Reverend Chege is now an addiction counselor and hopes to reduce the stigma associated with alcoholism.
He has dedicated his life to creating awareness and leading a prevention campaign for alcoholism and drug abuse.
Another beneficiary of rehabilitation services at SMECC, Stanley Irungu, recounted his struggle with addiction since 2019 when he was in college.
Irungu said that he was a bright student who aspired to be a pilot, a dream that was thwarted by addiction.
“For me addiction was a bottomless pit, I could not get myself out of it, I was pulled out of it after I developed drug induced psychosis disorder,” he said.
He encouraged all those struggling with addictions saying although their lives may have been derailed they can still get back on track.
“I went back to university after the program and completed my degree in engineering,” he said.
Irungu now dedicates his time towards peer and addiction counselling where he encourages other recovering addicts to reverse from the trend.
By Purity Mugo
