Happy to be sober after 18 years of addiction

Former drug addict Beryl Ogutu during the interview at a rehabilitation centre in Rongai on 31/07/2018. (Jenipher Wachie, Standard)

Beryl Ogutu, 33, had her first drink when she was 12. For 18 years, her system ran on alcohol. She shares her sobriety journey with Jacquline Mahugu.

“I grew up in a dysfunctional family. My dad was not there for us emotionally and neither was my mother because of domestic violence. There was a lot of instability at home but we never lacked,” she begins. She is the third born in a family of five children. As many middle children are prone to feeling, she felt forgotten and never felt love from her parents. “I learned to cope and accepted that it was just how our family was.”