@Alicewangechi
Thousands of Murang’a youths have undergone home-based rehabilitation and resumed their lives as the fight against illicit and second-generation liqour continues in the Mt Kenya.
Murang’a county is one of the areas heavily affected by alcoholism that has turned local youths into zombies and rendered them unproductive.
This has left families reeling from the pain of taking care of adult men and their families as many leave their homes early in the morning for the drinking dens.
Many times, the men steal from their families and sell household items to raise money for alcohol, and are eventually separated from their wives and children.
But an organisation called Dreamhub has restored the dreams of many youths who had once sunk into alcoholism.
The organisation identifies the addicted youths and supports them with food as it rehabilitates them in their homes.
Once they sober up, the youths are sponsored to join local polytechnics where they undertake artisan courses to become independent financially.
Nduta Mwaniki, the organisation’s CEO, said she started rehabilitating youths over 25 years ago after witnessing several of her relatives struggle with addiction.
“I had a construction project that took too long to be completed because all the workers would come to work drunk,” said Mwaniki, who hails from Kangema subcounty said.
She managed to rehabilitate most of the workers. Since then, Mwaniki said it pained her watching young men asleep in trenches and wasting their lives.
Her organisation has since employed over 300 of the youths she has rehabilitated and who help follow up on others in the programme.
Mwaniki confirmed that over 5,000 youths have since recovered from alcoholism and have resumed their lives and engage in income generating activities.
She appealed to the government to consider engaging the rehabilitated youths in affordable housing projects in all constituencies in the county to empower them.
“The issue of alcoholism requires the cooperation of the community and the government because it affects us all. Almost all homes in Murang’a county have had one or several youths addicted,” she said.
Speaking at Kangema Vocational Training Centre while enrolling a fresh group of rehabilitated youths, Mwaniki said her organisation is focused on saving lives and eradicating poverty. It has procured cabro and bricks making machines for some of the youths.
She also appealed to both national and county governments to establish rehabilitation centres to cater to those whose addiction has progressed too far and need medical attention.
Peter Kamathiro, one of the rehabilitated youths, said he had suffered from addiction for close to a decade.
The frustrations he suffered drove him and his drinking buddies to form a group in a flimsy bid to save themselves.
“We formed this group while still drinking in a bar with the aim of empowering ourselves. It is then that we got introduced to Dreamhub and got the help we needed,” he said.
Kamathiro said while undergoing training in a polytechnic, the group is now able to bake pastries they sell to local shops and eateries, providing them with an income.
“Our group is now stable. We have also established a tree nursery and sell seedlings to locals. We will never go back to drinking. Our lives are so much better now,” he said.
James Mugo, the polytechnic’s principal, said the partnership with Dreamhub will help revitalise the institution and encourage more youths to enrol.
The polytechnic offers tailoring, carpentry, masonry, plumbing, hairdressing and computer courses.
Muguru MCA Moses Muchiri said the polytechnic, built in 1952 as a detention centre, has old structures and insufficient instructors.
He however noted that with the increased number of students, he will be lobbying the county government to support it.
