A life reborn after drug addiction in Myitkyina
Drug production and consumption are the hidden facets of the crisis tearing Myanmar apart. A rehab centre in the capital of Kachin State highlights the cooperation between the local diocese and the Irish missionaries of St Columba. The stories of those who overcame their addiction are a source of hope.
Myitkyina (AsiaNews) – Growing and using drugs is one of the hidden facets of Myanmar's decades-old crisis.
The 2021 military coup and the subsequent outbreak of violence have further boosted drug production; yet, there are some signs of hope, this according to Fr Eamon Sheridan, an Irish priest with the Missionary Society of St Columba.
One example is the story of a baptism and the daily life of the rehabilitation centre for drug addicts promoted by the local diocese with the support of the Irish missionary institute in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State, eastern Myanmar.
The missionaries of St Columba first arrived in Myanmar in 1936; the first bishop of the Diocese of Myitkyina was an Irish member of the congregation, Mgr John Howe.
Starting in the 1960s, the regime of General Ne Win began expelling foreign missionaries. The last three Columban missionaries were ordered to leave the country in 1977.
Yet, they left a mark in Myitkyina that never faded, as evinced by the typically Irish names of Patrick and Columban found among local Catholic men.
Since the late 1990s, Irish missionaries were able to re-establish contacts with the diocese, resulting in a new permanent presence in the area.
The Rebirth Drug Rehabilitation Centre in Myitkyina is a sign of this continuing friendship. Set up in 2015, it is in the forefront of the fight against drug addiction, open for all those who want to embark on the path of rehabilitation.
Although it welcomes everybody, most of its patients are ethnic Kachin Christians.
Despite the coup d'état two years ago and the outbreak of fighting between the military and armed groups in some parts of the country, the rehab centre in Myitkyina has continued to expand with the opening of a women’s section last year.
The stories of those who come to the centre are seeds of hope even in difficult times; for example, Fr Sheridan remembers Patrick, a heroin addict he met in 2017 at the centre.
Heroin is a serious issue in Myitkyina since most of it is produced locally. And because of his addiction, Patrick came close to death several times. At one point, he was even anointed.
Having survived, he decided to turn his life around. Fr Sheridan introduced him to the 12 steps of Narcotics Anonymous, the programme proposed at the rehab centre.
For five years, Patrick has been clean, and now teaches karate to the young people of his village, after earning a black belt for himself.
"He has gone from hopelessness to bringing hope to young people in the centre where he is a counsellor and a mentor to other people,” Fr Eamon explained.
Patrick is now married with two children, and last year he asked Fr Eamon toe baptise his second child, a boy. Like his parents, he named his son after a missionary, Eamon Anthony, in gratitude for the help he received.
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