My name is Ivan. I am 21 and a university student in Kampala.
In my second year, a few drinks at the weekend became drinking every day, and then kuber and other substances to keep going. I missed exams, borrowed money I could not repay and lied to my parents about everything.
I want them to know that it is possible to turn back, and that nobody has to do it alone.
A Voices Unsilenced session came to our campus. The speaker was a young man who had been through the same thing, and he described my life so accurately that I left the hall shaking. I called the number on the poster that night.
The team helped me speak to my parents, a conversation I had been dreading for months. They came with me to the first session. I joined the Recovery Education Academy and learnt practical tools for cravings, stress and sleep.
I went back to my studies this year. My results are improving, and I now help organise awareness talks for first-year students. I want them to know that it is possible to turn back, and that nobody has to do it alone.
