{"id":838,"date":"2009-11-28T19:26:13","date_gmt":"2009-11-28T13:26:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bridgetobhutan.com\/blog\/?p=838"},"modified":"2009-11-28T19:26:13","modified_gmt":"2009-11-28T13:26:13","slug":"ex-addicts-celebrate-being-clean-and-sober","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bridgetobhutan.com\/blog\/2009\/11\/28\/ex-addicts-celebrate-being-clean-and-sober\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-addicts celebrate being clean and sober"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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<\/strong>\u201cMy name is Dasho Paljor Dorji. I\u2019ve been sober and clean since June 2004 \u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m Dechen Wangmo, 26 years old and I haven\u2019t been drinking alcohol since 2007 \u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m Tshewang Tenzin, a recovering drug user, and I\u2019m proud to say I\u2019ve been sober since November 2006 \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

About 150 recovering drug users and alcoholics gathered at the YDF hall in Thimphu yesterday to celebrate the \u201cclean and sober day\u201d. Most of the participants wore white T-shirts and badges showing their sobriety, as they exchanged stories among themselves about loving the clean life. The T-shirts stated: \u201cAsk me. See me. I am drug and alcohol free\u201d \u2013 the theme for the event. <\/span><\/p>\n

The sober and clean day attracted people from all walks of life, with many forms of addiction and varying lengths of sobriety. <\/span><\/p>\n

Among the group were nine young men, who are still undergoing detoxification at the Thimphu referral hospital. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSome of us may be sober for a day but that day matters. You have to start somewhere,\u201d said Nima Dorji, who has been sober for almost four years. \u201cRecovering from an addiction shouldn\u2019t be a lonely experience. There are people, who care and will help you through it.\u201d He is a peer counsellor at the drop-in centre for drug and alcohol dependence established by the Youth Development Fund. <\/span><\/p>\n

Chitheun Phendey, a substance abuse and alcohol abstinence support group, organised the one-day programme.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dasho Paljor Dorji, known as Dasho Benji, also shared his personal experience as a recovering alcoholic. The former deputy minister and present advisor to the national environment commission told Kuensel that he must have had his first drink at the age of 10. But now that he has 65 months of sobriety under his belt, he said: \u201cThe quality of life I enjoy today is wonderful. I still party with my friends and have a good time without having a drink.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI had health problems and it was certain that, if I continued drinking, I wouldn\u2019t be here today,\u201d he said. \u201cI used to wake up and have my \u2018bed beer\u2019 everyday when other people were having their morning tea.\u201d He told the participants that, if they have an illness, seek help. \u201cThere\u2019s no shame in seeking help or saying that you\u2019re a drug addict or an alcoholic,\u201d he said. \u201cIf I can do it, so can you. God loves you all just as much to help you through the road to recovery.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A 18-year old student, who was both drug and alcohol user, said that she has been sober since June 23, 2009. \u201cI still have problems admitting that I\u2019m a recovering addict, because of imagined social stigma against female addicts,\u201d she said. \u201cI like myself today and I\u2019ll be continuing studies next year.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

The participants lit butter lamps and prayed at the start of the programme. Then they went on stage, one by one, to inform the gathering on how long they have been sober and clean, followed by numerous cultural programs. Some of the participants also volunteered to speak at length on their past and the choices they made. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to make it an annual event to celebrate sobriety and addiction recovery,\u201d said program coordinator Tshewang Tenzin. 31-year-old Tshewang, a recovering drug-user, has been sober for three years and is working as a peer counsellor at the Bhutan narcotics control agency. He said that the first celebration had been on November 26, 2008 with about 50 participants.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a day for people, who were and are fighting against alcohol and drug addiction,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re here to support what we have achieved or hoping to achieve.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

By Phuntsho Choden<\/strong><\/span>
\nSource: Kuenselonline<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ex-addicts in Bhutan celebrate being clean and sober<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,25],"tags":[97,441],"class_list":["post-838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","category-health","tag-alcohol","tag-drugs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bridgetobhutan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bridgetobhutan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bridgetobhutan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridgetobhutan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridgetobhutan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bridgetobhutan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bridgetobhutan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridgetobhutan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bridgetobhutan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}