Second Lady Pastor Dorcas Rigathi has explained her passionate fight against drug and substance abuse stems from the pain of losing her brothers.
Speaking at the University of Embu in Embu County, on Wednesday, January 17, 2024, Pastor Dorcas who runs rehabilitation programs and has been feted for her efforts to empower the boy child revealed that she has lost her brother and a brother-in-law to alcoholism.
She said the deceased had promising endeavours since one was an engineer while the other worked as a medical doctor in South Africa.
"Don't think I do all these things (fighting against drugs and alcoholism) without background or something that has happened to my family. We have lost brothers to alcohol, my own brother and my brother-in-law. One of those we buried was an engineer, another one was a medical doctor in South Africa, "Pastor Dorcas revealed while calling for sobriety.
"When I speak, I speak as one who knows what alcoholism can do. Please stay sober," she pleaded.
Pastor Dorcas is in Embu for a three-day tour. During her visit, she will be running a screening project for the rehabilitation of drug addicts at the Embu Stadium.
This comes after she placed 60 youths from Mombasa County on a 3-month rehabilitation program in various rehab facilities in Mombasa and Kwale Counties as a fulfilment of a promise she made after she visited one of the drug dens in the coastal region.
The screening and identification exercise was done by the office of the spouse of the deputy president in collaboration with other players among them the county government of Mombasa.
"When I went to the drug dens, they told me many had visited them and promised to help them. They could not even believe me when I said I would bring them food. But that same day, I brought the food and served it myself. And I went to the dens a second time and brought them to a medical camp for screening. And during this third visit, those who went through checkup, have now been admitted to the rehab centre," Pastor Dorcas stated.
Dorcas Rigathi rescues former journalist from alcoholism
Notably, in November 2023, a cohort of 80 people graduated in Nyandarua under Pastor Dorcas Rigathi's rehabilitation program after a successful rehabilitation.
The group comprised among others a former journalist -Johana Chacha.
Chacha was once a household name in the media industry having worked for political desks as a Senior Political Reporter at KTN and K24 among other media stations.
However, he revealed he was retrenched from his job in what he says was a result of alcoholism. After losing his job in 2016, his drinking habits accelerated but he later joined Nairobi's Riruta Stadium in Kawangware.
In his own words, alcoholism took his promising journalism career down the drain.
"My childhood dream was cut short by alcoholism," a statement by the OSDPS desk indicates.
Chacha recalled how he used to miss work before his firing due to alcoholism. He says at times he could miss work for even three days without a trace.
"I remember when I was fired, I had missed work for three consecutive days, and my editors could not trace me. When I reported on the fourth day, I could not explain my whereabouts for those 3-days. So, when I was fired, I could get into alcoholism even more," he narrated.
The renowned journalist says when he heard Pastor Dorcas was running a rehabilitation program for the youth in alcoholism, drugs and substance abuse in Nairobi's Dagoreti area he wouldn't hesitate to join the program. The program started by screening over 500 youth in Dagoreti where 79 joined the ASK rehabilitation program while another cohort of 50 has undergone rehabilitation in Limuru.
"We have learnt a lot about life from the rehabilitation program. It was my own decision to join the program and I don't regret it at all. I can see I have now regained some respect from my friends," he said.
He is now working as a volunteer under Awake Christian Initiative - a group that has been doing mentorship programs for high school students.
"If how I started my work without being an alcoholic is how I maintained, I could have been very far by now. I remember people we started with in the media industry, the likes of John Allan Namu, Stephen Ndumbi, and MP Mohamed Ali, some have even started their own companies," he said.
Adding; "I have learnt but learnt the hard way, but I have reformed."
