I was tired of alcohol but didn’t know how to stop drinking

For more than 40 years, George Nyamweya was a slave to alcoholism and smoking.

Mr Nyamweya says he started drinking alcohol and smoking in 1975 at the tender age of 10 and has since then been struggling with the two addictions.

The 44-year-old’s habit has negatively affected both his teaching career and personal life and has earned him several transfers due to absenteeism in classes.

Mr Nyamweya’s career as a teacher begun in 1997 with the Maendeleo ya Wanawake affiliated German International Organisation, Vivid Communications.

There he was the only male teacher from Mosocho area in Kisii County sensitising women groups and the public about the dangers of female circumcision (FGM) in barazas, seminars and schools.

He was sacked by the organisation due to his on and off tendency of reporting to work.

REGULAR TRANSFERS

Mr Nyamweya has taught in more than 10 schools, getting transferred as soon as principals and students got tired of his absenteeism and low productivity.

“I have taught in many secondary schools in this county, among them Nyakoora, Itibo Girls, Daraja Mbili, Nyanchwa Boys, Nyamagwa Boys, Nyakoiba, Sugunana, and one private school, Mosocho Academy,” he says.

His absenteeism, he says, was mostly because he was nursing a hangover or had a bout of malnutrition due to poor eating habits.

Mr Nyamweya said he would often pretend to be unwell just to get time off to drink.

“Sometimes I would fake illness when the principals were being too hard on me so that I could go drinking and smoking,” says the reformed teacher.

Sick of being enslaved by his addictions, and after several months of being pestered by his family to seek help, George finally decided to try out rehabilitation to see if it could set him free.

UNCOOPERATIVE AT FIRST

“When my wife first suggested rehab, I was very uncooperative and was sometimes rough towards her but when my children joined her, I finally begun considering it,” he told the Nation.

“I was tired of alcohol but did not know how to stop drinking and my family had begun to distance itself from me,” he weighed in.

Nyamweya says his addiction had immensely affected his family life and due to this his wife had run away several times.

“My family, and especially my wife, was very determined to help me and I thank her for not giving up on me and also for not leaving because I would not be as sober as I am right now.”

The cycle of alcohol-induced hopelessness and despair persisted until March 2016.

An emotionally exhausted Mr Nyamweya finally gave in to his wife’s constant pleas and went to the county TSC offices to ask for medical leave to attend the rehab.

TSC REHAB PROGRAMME

He says he was neither aware of the TSC’s rehabilitation programme for drug addicted teachers nor about the wellness department that coordinates the programme.

“At the time, I did not know that there was a programme to rehabilitate teachers who are drug abusers. I was actually afraid that they would fire me for admitting my addiction,” he said.

The wellness department allows a teacher a three-month leave to go for rehabilitation while still earning half of his salary.

Mr Nyamweya was taken to Mathari Rehabilitation Centre in Nairobi where he would spend 90 days.

After a month, his fellow recovering addicts elected him to be their chief coordinator due to his cooperation.

The move was very inspiring to him because no one before had ever considered him to be worth of any responsibility.

He took it in his stride.

“I promised myself that when I was released from the centre, I would encourage my friends, who are also addicts, to go for rehabilitation,” he said.

“Because I realised that I was getting better, I decided that I would mentor all the people I knew [and who had] the same problem to go for treatment,” he told the Nation.

In his position as chief coordinator, Mr Nyamweya was in charge of several departments such as games, catering, cleanliness and linking patients with their counsellors.

MADE FRIENDS AT MATHARI

“I got to mix with a lot of people with different conditions in Mathari including the mentally challenged. My easy nature made it possible to make friends with most of them,” he said.

Mr Nyamweya says that the doctors at the rehabilitation institution were impressed by his quick recovery.

At one time he contemplated staying there to help others also recover but love for his family came in the way.

As an alternative, he opted to start a support group in his home county of Kisii for the same.

So far two people have joined the month-old Teacher and Students Against Alcohol Abuse Support Group.

More have already shown interest, he says.

“So many others want me to help them to stop the addictions they have but they do not know that they can be cured,” said Mr Nyamweya.

His support group will address all forms of addiction and drug abuse among teachers and students.