He is a father, a husband and an addiction counselor. 10 years ago, you may have not recognized him. He was living the darkest moments of his life— wallowing deep into miraa and weed addiction.
Born in 1980, Daniel Gathii grew up in a normal home set up in Gatundu. His life mainly revolved around his parents and church.
“If I wasn’t at home, I was in church with the priest helping out with church activities, ” he said.
From a church boy to a drug user
Joining high school also meant freedom for Gathii. He was now away from the watchful eyes of his parents and the priest.
He started smoking cigarette right from form one. Worse, the school he joined was chaotic and it made him more confident with his behavior.
In form two he advanced to weed and changaa. He would send someone to buy him changaa over the weekend. With time, he progressed to using the drugs daily and eventually got caught in the act.
Numerous suspensions to expulsion
“In form three I was suspended from school for smoking weed.”
“I went home and was taken to the priest for counseling for two weeks then went back to school.”
Back in school Gathii participated in a strike and was suspended again.
“My family took me back to the church where I worked for two weeks and went back to school.”
From there it was the same cycle. Gathii would be suspended, goes to the priest, then back to school. This however wasn’t the same case in his final year in school.
In form four Gathii was eventually expelled from school.
“I told my parents that I only needed a Maths & Physics tutor. I studied at home and managed to pass the national exams.”
College life to loss of three jobs
Gathii later joined Kenyan Polytechnic where he took a course in Automotive Engineering.
“I had my focus in school but would still do weed out of class. I’d only miss Friday evening classes but I was focused and completed my studies successfully.”
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He later got a job as a technician in KTDA. His drug use intensified as he was earning and could easily purchase the drugs.
Working in the factory was however tough. He would work 24 hours, hardly resting. He decided to quit.
“I went back to Nairobi and got a job at
Fuelmart. I was later posted to go and work in Nanyuki, but didn’t report. I just didn’t want to go. That’s how I got fired and lost my second job.”
Gathii got another job after sometime. That too he lost after using drugs and blacking out while at work.
Marriage Breakup
Gathii opened a jucali business after all proved futile in employment.
“I was in scrape metal business which thrived. I’d make a lot of money daily and that led me to use drugs more.”
He would spend almost a week without stepping a foot in his home. His wife got fed up and decided to leave after pleading with him to change his behavior.
‘Without any responsibilities, my miraa and weed addiction intensified,’ he says.
Mathare to Rehab
Gathii’s family saw it wise to seek help when his addiction worsened. He was admitted in Mathare, first for two weeks at the end of 2006.
“Between 2006-2008, I was shuffling between streets and Mathare.”
He would be out on the streets before discharge and his family would locate and take him back to the facility.
Everytime he went back to the street his condition would worsen. He was becoming delusional and frequently hallucinated. It was not until one of her aunts recommended he be taken to a rehab.
“At the beginning of 2009 I was taken to a rehab where I stayed for 11 months. The first 4 months in the facility I still couldn’t figure where I was. I had totally lost it. It is at the 6th month when I started adapting to the program.”
“After discharge, I was given some duties in the rehab. It was during those times when I told my counselor that I wanted to do what he was doing —Addiction counseling. ”
In 2011, he joined college for a year and graduated with a diploma in Chemical Dependency. From there he found a job as an addiction counselor in 2013.
Lessons learned
Gathii said there’s a feeling he wasted so much time and found his peers ahead. However, he feels lucky to be alive since he lost so many friends who were also in addiction.
He said it was painful for his parents to watch him consumed in addiction.
“They felt like it was witchcraft or a bad omen that had befell their son.”
“It pushes parents to start resenting and blaming each other over poor upbringing and responsibilities.”
His final words
“Rehab works. But then you have to put efforts and commitments like everything in life. You must first be able to deal with your own issues for the program to work.”
For the families of addicts who say the rehab treatment is expensive, this was his final take.
“How much have you lost already in terms of money, emotions and opportunities?”