When we arrive at Sergeant Saviour Mentorship, Empowerment and Counselling Centre (SSmecc)in Murang'a on this sunny morning, we find Faiza Wanjiru busy counselling recovering addicts. The addicts are attentive, occasionally jotting down notes in their notebooks. Some seem deep in thought, perhaps reflecting and digesting the words of wisdom from this reformed addict.
Faiza is an addiction counsellor at this centre, which caters to individuals battling addictions to various substances, including alcohol. Here, she helps hundreds of addicts return to sobriety. Currently, the rehab accommodates about 80 recovering addicts drawn from across the country.
Teacher aids addicts recovery in Kisii From altar wine, alcohol addict to teetotalismWhen we finally sit down with her, Faiza opens up about her journey to becoming a counsellor.
In 1998, she was elated upon scoring an impressive 463 out of 700 marks in her Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exams. The girl from the remote Kiharu Constituency in Murang'a County looked forward to joining one of the country's top secondary schools. Her joy knew no bounds when she received an admission letter from her dream school, Alliance Girls High School.
Unfortunately, her mother could not afford the school fees, and with her father deceased, Faiza lost the golden opportunity to acquire a secondary education, marking the end of her dream to become a medical doctor.
With an abundance of free time, Faiza recalls befriending a woman from her village who introduced her to her brother. At the tender age of 14, this man introduced Faiza to alcohol.
'Initially, he would give me soda, then soda laced with a little alcohol. It then graduated to alcohol. Then a time came when I would tell him to put the alcohol and leave out the soda. That's how I became an addict at the age of 14,' Faiza recounts.
The mother of one would later become a notorious alcohol and substance abuse addict in Murang'a and beyond. Apart from alcohol, she reveals she also indulged in bhang, miraa, cigarettes, and other hard drugs.
So intense was her drinking problem that she resorted to shoplifting and commercial sex work to raise money for alcohol and drugs.
One day, I was caught shoplifting and mercilessly beaten. I was subsequently arrested, charged, and jailed for theft. Luckily, some relatives bailed me out, Faiza recounts.
Her love for the bottle also saw her work as a bar attendant in Murang'a, Kiambu, and Narok counties. During this time, she confesses to robbing many male customers to fund her drinking habits.
I stole from many men clients. I preyed on those who looked wealthy. I would spike their drinks before robbing them. I made millions, but the money didn't help me in any way. I ended up using it to buy alcohol and other drugs, she regrets.
Fearing arrest for her heinous acts, Faiza triumphantly returned to her home in Kiharu, she tells . Here, her love for the bottle only increased, unfortunately. She began consuming cheap, illicit liquor in the village daily.
Nobody in the family or the village could dissuade her from alcohol. She was unruly and uncontrollable, she says.
I was always arrested and arraigned in court almost every day for being drunk. It got to a point where the magistrate asked the prosecution to seek an alternative method of rehabilitation instead of constantly arresting and arraigning me in court, Faiza vividly recalls.
So severe was her drinking problem that she sold her son for Sh20,000 after delivery, to get money to buy alcohol, she divulges. Four years later, however, they reunited, and Faiza says they now share a close relationship.
Her turning point came in 2015 when former President Uhuru Kenyatta ordered a national crackdown on illicit brews. The directive responded to growing concerns that excessive consumption of illicit brews was rendering the youth unproductive.
As a result, former Murang'a Governor Mwangi Iria, initiated a county alcohol addicts' rehabilitation program. Faiza remembers a smartly dressed man visiting her home one morning, offering her a job as a bar attendant in his establishment in Murang'a town. Eager to make money and continue her drinking spree, Faiza gladly accompanied him to his car. However, she was shocked when the man took her directly to Ihura Stadium, which ho
