Working with addicts has made her a heroine

By Linah Benyawa

Among the wretched drug addicts, she is the heroine that brings the sun to their lives.

Celina Kithinji, the deputy senior public health nurse at the Coast Provincial Hospital, is committed to help drug addicts reclaim their lost lives. She easily mingles with them, and sometimes uses her own money to house and help them recover.

"It is satisfying working with the recovering addicts who are ready to change because I understand them and know that it is not their wish to take drugs," explains Kithinji, a mother of two, who has in the past hosted some homeless recovering addicts.

Reason to go on

She has assisted more than 100 drug and substance abuse addicts and quite a number of them have been rehabilitated. This has given her the reason to continue helping more addicts to have normal lives.

She says she is not going to stop doing this, until the last addict is rehabilitated.

Kithinji started dealing with substance abuse early last year.

"I have dealt with quite a number of addicts. Some looked hopeless but after I spent time with them, they turned out to be the best people I have ever known. I love doing this because I care," Kithinji says.

One of the former addicts Kithinji helped is Sharon.

When they met, Sharon was on the verge of committing suicide. Kithinji rescued her and accommodated her for a while.

"Last December, I was arrested and taken to Shimo la Tewa Maximum Prison for not having a conductor badge. I was taken ill and while waiting for medication at the Coast Provincial General Hospital and contemplating how to end my life, nurse Kithinji came to my rescue," says Sharon.

valid documents

For one month, Sharon stayed with Kithinji, who went ahead and got her the valid documents required for her work as a conductor.

"I took Sharon in and stayed with her because I had known her when she was at the hospital undergoing rehabilitation earlier on. I was afraid that she could relapse or commit suicide after going through rejection. Her family had rejected her because they said she could not change but I believed in her and gave her shelter," explains Kithinji. And while staying with Kithinji, Sharon would wake up early each day and wash vehicles within the neighbourhood and from what she earned, she was able to save some money.

When she was ready for reintegration to the society, Kithinji says, she took her to one of her matatus to work as a conductor but the driver refused to work with her saying he was not going to work with a woman.

"One of my friends agreed to hire her. She is currently plying the Mombasa-Jomvu route and I frequently follow her progress to ensure she doesn’t go back to drugs," she adds.

When she got the job, Sharon moved out and rented her own place.

Sharon is just one of the many desperate people Kithinji has helped. One of her drivers is a recovering addict who had been neglected by his family. She took him in when he recovered, she employed him so that he could fend for himself.

In December 2010, the government declared war against drug and substance abuse.

Under this initiative, Kithinji is coordinating 12 centres that were opened to help rehabilitate the addicts.