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| Two of Kenya's great - Prof Wangari Maathai and Boxer Conjestina Achieng (Image Source) |
Good afternoon beautiful people,
I pitched this article last week but it did not get a home, and as done in the past with articles that do not get picked, I decided to post it here. The context is in italics and the main article follows.
12 years ago, I was part of the first initiative that helped to raise funds and support Conjestina. Under the Pamoja Conje banner, musicians Nonini and Suzanna Owiyo, then blogger Robert Alai, Ambassador Yvonne Khamati, Mama Ida Odinga and I, helped to fundraise and create awareness online and via events. Conjestina was admitted to the private wing at Mathari Hospital where we visited her and updated Kenyans. We walked with her until she got back home and then her family took over.
I saw her in the news two weeks ago sharing what she would like to do when she gets out of the treatment facility she is currently in. This made me reflect on the 12 years of her mental health cycle, and I wrote a reflective piece on how we can try to get different results this time round.
Last week, Kenya boxing champion, Conjestina Achieng updated Kenyans on her recovery journey and expressed her desire to return to boxing. As I watched her, I could not help but think about her public recovery journey that started 12 years ago. At the time, I was a full-time mental health blogger, and part of the Pamoja Conje initiative that helped to mobilize funds and other resources for her treatment.
The initiative was put together following a feature story on the state of Conjestina Achieng. The story highlighted her mental status, and financial woes. That feature and initiative were the first of many features and public efforts to help her. Over the past 12 years, she has been admitted into various treatment facilities across the country thanks to support from various entities and personalities.
She is currently in a treatment facility in Mombasa courtesy of Former Nairobi Governor Mbuvi Kioko ‘Sonko’. As prepares for her post-treatment life, it is paramount that a comprehensive reintegration and relapse prevention plan, that goes beyond getting her a job, is put in place.
The first step is to understand that recovery is not a destination but a continuous and lifelong journey. A lot of language around Conjestina everytime she leaves a treatment facility is that she is healed or she is recovered. Based on the past 12 years, we have enough evidence to see that rehab is just the beginning of the healing and recovery journey, and not the end all. Her post-treatment plan should include tools and skills that not only help her reintegrate into daily life, but also help to prevent relapses or reduce their impact.
This plan should include identification of internal and external triggers that lead to relapses, it involves trying out various self-care and life coping skills to see which ones work for based on her personal history, current life circumstance, and future aspirations.
Secondly, we need to acknowledge that healing looks different for everybody. They are people who go through something, go into treatment once, and that thing never bothers them again. Others need to go back two or three times, and others, despite the number of times they go to hospital, despite the various types of treatments and therapies they go through, they are still prone to triggers. Instead of rushing the latter group to heal and move on with life, we need to provide them with skills on how to live positively with their diagnosis - medication and follow-up adherence. Group therapy or 12 step programs as well as buddy or recovery sponsor systems go a long way in not only providing additional narratives to learn from but also accountability partners beyond family and treatment facilities.
Thirdly, there have been reports of substance abuse being part of the causes of Conjestina’s relapse. If this is the case, there is a need to investigate the function drugs serve in her post-treatment, and replace their role with something positive that serves the same function. Removing the drugs without addressing the purpose they serve only creates a vacuum, and later leads to cravings, abuse and relapse. While relapse prevention is the goal, Conjestina, and the public at large, should be informed that relapses are part of the healing and recovery process, and should a relapse occur, seeking help is not a sign of failure but a commitment to health.
Time and time again, she has shown this commitment, of course with varying degrees of success. Unfortunately, time and time, we have used the same strategies expecting different results. I agree with Sonko’s hesitation in getting her back into the ring, and support his suggestion to have her work at the rehab. Research shows that community engagement activities help to boost recovery and prevent relapses. Should the rehab not be ideal, other activities that involve giving back to the community could be tried out. This can be done alongside the implementation of a maintenance plan that includes regular one on one therapy and life skills sessions, and group sessions. Environmental factors should also be considered, as it looks like a lot is lost when she moves from a treatment facility to her rural home. A halfway house that provides these maintenance aspects and enables her to engage the community could be an ideal next step.
Last and not least, as a community, let her go through this maintenance process and allow her to reintroduce herself to us. Who knows, maybe we contribute to her relapse everytime we expect her to be a world champion boxer when it is time for her to let go of that phase of her life and embrace something new.
