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“Punarjani”(Re-Birth) CHARITABLE TRUST FOR DE-ADDICTION & REHABILITATION REG NO 217/2004,
POOMALA P.O. THRISSUR 680581, INDIA.
E-mail: punarjanipoomala@yahoo.com
www.punarjani.org
————————————————————————————————————————————— A New Venture for Recovery from Alcoholism
Punarjani means the rebirth, yes, really it is a rebirth not only for its founderer, Managing Trustee DR. Johns K. Mangalam, but also for more than 200 alcoholic addicts and for their whole family members.
This is really a miraculous achievement for an NGO, which was formed by a group of Ex-Alcoholics, who were victims of Alcoholism, some persons affected by this malady and few humanists who have real concern about them.
Punarjani is at Poomala, a sleepy village 16 km away from Thrissur town near Mulamkunnathukavu. This organization is distinct from any other organization due to its peculiarities. This initiative is led by DR. Johns K. Mangalam, who has several distinction to this credit like two first ranks, a Ph.D. Degree in Philosophy, a short term teaching experience at Sree Kerala Varma College, Thrissur and was a practicing Advocate .He was a severe Alcoholic for twenty years but come out of it nine years ago.
Poomala which is the home village of DR. Johnson also has the history of wide spread Alcoholism because in the early days of migration about 60 years back, the predominant population here had been relying heavily on alcohol to pep up their spirit in their struggle for survival amidst harsh weather, attack of wild animals and disease like malaria
Most of the first generation migrants used to consume illicit liquor from their childhood. Many of them lost their lives prematurely either due to suicide and diseases like liver problems or by accidents -all linked to alcoholism some way or other. But even though DR. Johns belongs to this group, by the grace of God he recovered from it after many admissions and discharges from a number of De-addiction treatment centers.
It was a chance realization for DR. Johnson that, Alcoholism is a disease and from it anybody can recover through adopting a new life style and through prompt knowledge about the nature, reasons, effects and methods of recovery from it. When he recognized that his efforts to get away from liquor were finally successful after innumerable failures, he tried to influence his friends and others to recover from the disease which is being wrongly called as a “bad habit”.
Together with his friends who had also recovered from Alcoholism and with the help of some humanitarian friends they started an organization with the goal to recover and rehabilitate Alcoholics and their families and also educate them about the evil influence of alcohol.
Through out the last three and half years they have been conducting Seminars, creative discussions between the experts in this subject and the public. They also conducted various awareness camps and classes about the problems faced by the alcoholics and the reasons along with solutions for the condition of Alcoholism. Now they are conducting an experiment with their newly innovated means and methods to release an Alcoholic from this condition.
Punarjani produced an audio-video CD about Alcoholism by the same name Punarjani and conducted the screening of the said documentary at many places, in order to create awareness about this disease. They distributed hundreds of copies of the said documentary in the CD form through out Kerala free of cost. Through the tireless efforts of volunteers of Punarjani they could act as a catalyst for the recovery of a large number of alcoholic addicts within a very short span of time.
Meanwhile they purchased one acre of land at the beautiful and tranquil area adjacent to Poomala Dam. Now at the said site in two small sheds they are conducting a de-addiction center by the name Punarjani Retreat Centre through which they are experimenting and implementing some newly generated ideas about the means and methods of recovery from Alcoholism.
They emphasize the fact that alcoholism is a family disease which not only affects the mind, body and soul of an Alcoholic, but also affects the whole family. Thus, they begin by motivating the patient along with proper counseling and education for the family members who had also become mentally ill due to the impact or after effects of Alcoholism on a person whom they depend. In fact, they are the scapegoats of Alcoholism.
Alcoholics usually resist undergoing any sort of treatment due to two reasons. The formally accepted methods of treatment which restrict the total freedom of an Alcoholic by imprisoning him in a De-addiction Center for a very long period of time, and the use of heavy doses of medicines, are not accepted by them, because they fear to loss of the freedom which they ‘used to misuse’ for a very long period of time. Most of them fear the use of any sort of medicine for recovery from Alcoholism because from their experience they know very well that it may create physical and mental problems for them after treatment, i.e. If they continue to consume liquor , in most cases it may lead to death or paralysis of the patient.
The possibility of the chance for failure in the treatment and consequent withdrawal of moral support and sympathy from the kith and kin, while undergoing expensive treatment, may cause loss of morale, especially if he does not recover completely from Alcoholism even after the so called rigorous treatment at any De- addiction treatment Center.
It is in this respect that Punarjani differs from any other recovery centers. Alcoholics are united to join a combined effort to recover from their condition by living and sharing together for a period of 21 days at Punarjani, which has “no walls and gates” and at which they will not be compelled to consume any medicine or follow any specific religion. They even advise the patients to come voluntarily for the recovery, after consuming a last peg.
A total change in the attitude of all the members of the family of the patient and of the society towards the Alcoholic and the recovered Alcoholic is an essential pre-requisite for recovery and long endurance of the newly obtained sobriety of any Alcoholic. Unconditional moral, financial and other support is inevitable for the sustenance of the new state of life of a recovered alcoholic
PUNARJANI- THE NEW APPROACHES OF PURNARJANI FOR RECOVERY FROM ALCOHOLISM AND WHY IT IS NEW?
The most important hindrance to solve the problem of Alcoholism is that Keralaites even though they may be highly educated and literate, are not properly aware of the fact that Alcoholism is a disease from which anyone can recover by adequate means and methods.
The other important hindrance to achieve and fulfill the objectives of the TRUST, Punarjani is that all the family members of an Alcoholic will, in due course, become the victims of the same disease, and all the members of the family become prey to Alcoholism . The mental, social, financial and family life of an addict will make adverse impacts upon the mental, social, financial life of the whole family and will create complex problems in all spheres of their life.
The fundamental principles or Axioms of Punarjani about Alcoholism are that “Alcoholism is a disease’’, “Alcoholism is a family decease’’ and “there is no Medicine which can offer recovery to the disease of Alcoholism’’.
However, we can recover from the disease, Alcoholism by some other means and methods and so Punarjani advocates that a true awareness about the real reasons and nature of Alcoholism as a disease is the most important thing in order to get rid of this disease.
Unfortunately even though we are very proud of our high rate of literacy and educational status, proper awareness about the causes, reasons and the true nature and means of recovery from this disease etc, are very low, especially among the so called highly educated people of Kerala, even today. The awareness about this fatal disease “Alcoholism’’ is inadequate, especially among the poor. Punarjani believes that ignorance about alcoholism in its various aspects as a disease is the basic and most important reason for Alcoholism in India, and especially in Kerala with people - working hard and earning money to spent on life’s enjoyments and living with unbearable quantity of tensions and worries .
The salient features and factors, which differentiate the approach of Punarjani from other De-addiction Centers, are that
There is No Medicine for the recovery from this disease of Alcoholism All attempts for the recovery from this disease should be voluntary and with the consent of the Patient and thus unnecessary and heavy Medicine should not be prescribed.
Denial of freedom to an Alcoholic by imprisonment is the most important hindrance for making him aware of the true nature of his disease and its impacts up on his family .So don’t curtail the freedom of Alcoholics by imprisonment.
Provide adequate opportunity to reveal the broken heart of each Alcoholic to anybody who wish to listen and can understand the circumstances and emotions of an Alcoholic, at any time, anywhere.
Offer the help of recovered Alcoholics to motivate, to create awareness of the damages caused by it to each of them and to provide chances for them to inter act with many other Alcoholics without discrimination of caste, creed, education and social or financial status.
Provide the healing touches of natural love as the Medicine for Motivation and Recovery
FREEDOM
Freedom from unnecessary bondages is very important for an Alcoholic, because he, as an Alcoholic is the person who lavishly enjoyed and misused freedom by virtue of his disease or as a symptom of his disease.
So Punarjani believes that whenever he is compelled to restrict his freedom, he will not co-operate with the means and methods or attempts of recovery from Alcoholism. Restriction of his freedom by imprisonment will generate a rebellious attitude in the minds of Alcoholics and thus their minds will not listen to what he may hear about his disease.
An intellectual conviction about the true nature of this decease, its symptoms, reasons, remedy, means and methods of recovery are essential for the recovery of an Alcoholic. Unfortunately, while the patient is under the state of imprisonment and restrictions he is not able to co-operate with the persons who can impart the required knowledge about Alcoholism and the successful means and methods for recovery from it.
Thus PUNARJANI has no gates for its De-addiction Centre. Instead anybody can enter and if he wishes to go, he can do so without any restriction except sympathetic persuasion to continue the stay .Thus the impulse to escape from Punarjani in order to have a drink can be overcome by a patient. All they have here is a communal living together, which enables the patients to learn from the life experiences, losses, hopes, achievements and expectations of other Alcoholics through open sessions of personal, family and group counseling which are totally different from closed, artificially created, time bound and officially recognized and accepted modes of counseling. Both recovered and recovering patients participate in these modes of counseling with out any prejudice or reservation but with wholehearted involvement.
There is a typical language for communication between Alcoholics. The languages of sophisticated counselors are mostly alien and not acceptable to alcoholics. Therefore, a lesson or message expressed by an Alcoholic in his own language could reach at the understanding faculty of another Alcoholic or in other words, an academically qualified, technically educated counselor may not express the same lesson or message to the reasoning faculty of another Alcoholic as another Alcoholic, whether recovered or not. He may try to impart his ideas and thoughts through his sophisticated language and style, but that may not create the expected result to an Alcoholic. For the life and distinct experiences of an Alcoholic are very different and distant from that of a Non-Alcoholic, however empathetic or sympathetic he may be.
‘Punarjani’ believes and experiences the fact that, the healing touches of love, sympathy, compassion, protection and care etc will produce a tremendous impact up on the life and thoughts of an Alcoholic.
With dedication and care, we can build up confidence and courage in the shattered, dejected and confused minds of Alcoholics. Moreover, the intervention of many recovered Alcoholics will motivate, and inspire with the required determination, will power, hope and self-estimation an Alcoholic who is fallen to the state of hell, misery and defeat. A very short span of time spent with the inmates of “PUNARJANI’’ will make tremendous impact upon the life of an Alcoholic and indirectly that of the family, his society and on succeeding generations.
Alcoholics can recover from their disease through self-awareness of the reasons, symptoms, impacts, means and methods of recovery of Alcoholism. They can achieve this here, through self -effort and with the help and assistance of other recovered Alcoholics. However due acceptance of recovered Alcoholics, by their family and society as a whole, is very essential for the sustenance of the recovered sobriety of any Alcoholic.
The net work of the family members of Alcoholics, who happen to get a chance to stay at “PUNARJANI’’ for a period of 21 days, will act as the supporting group for every newly recovered Alcoholic .The intimacy and affection expressed among the similarly aggrieved and suffering patients will have a strength stronger than that of any other group. Thus, in fact each and every person who under goes this recovery process at “PUNARJANI’’ will become a healer of other Alcoholics. Thus, we can feel the wonder created by the intervention of WOUNDED HEALERS upon the patients at “PUNARJANI’’
Alcoholism is not a sin. Moreover, the grace and intervention of the unseen power that we call by different names such as Jesus, God, Allah, Ram, and by other numerous names, is inevitable for the permanent recovery of an Alcoholic form his disease. At “PUNARJANI’’, everybody is free to choose his own Deity as he himself conceives it. Because “PUNARJANI’’ believes that, in order to fight and defeat the disease Alcoholism, we need the help of a power that will be stronger than Alcohol, which has already defeated us. The belief and prayers offered by an Alcoholic and his suffering family will reap its fruits, for his recovery and future prosperity, through the unexpected interventions of God, for which we may not have adequate and reasonable explanations.
By sharing, we can increase happiness and by sharing, we can decrease sadness. The feelings of helplessness, worthlessness, rejection,marginalization etc will be reduced and even eliminated.
By the same process of open and voluntary sharing of thoughts, experiences and hopes, among the inmates of “PUNARJANI’’, we can impart hopes and expectations, energy, confidence and the will to achieve and escape from Alcoholism and to win the fight against the disease of Alcoholism.
A total, voluntary and unconditional surrender by the patient is essential for his recovery because the important and primary symptom and characteristic of this disease of Alcoholism is EGOISM, which is baseless and false.
Renovation of the life of an alcoholic through counseling, Meditation Yoga, Hypnotherapy, Faith, Change in values, Life style, Beliefs and Relationships is also a very significant requirement for complete recovery and sustenance of recovered sobriety of an Alcoholic. It is only through the unconditional help, assistance, and acceptance obtained from the family and society an alcoholic can recover permanently from the disease of Alcoholism.
Thus for the recovery of an alcoholic, the participation, involvement and change in the social, mental, financial and spiritual spheres of the patient and his family along with revolutionary changes of society’s approach and attitudes towards Alcoholics as ‘Patients’ is very essential The public is the foremost enemy of any Alcoholic.Those who may attempt to assist the recovery of an Alcoholic may not be treated as a Good Samaritans .Because,most of the consumers of alcohol and social drinkers are not in agreement with the idea of a Retreat Centre for the recovery of a person from the habit of regular consumption or abuse of alcohol. Most of the addicts of Alcohol will not even accept the fact that he himself is now become a patient of the disease Alcoholism and in order to recover from this fatal disease he needs external help and assistance including medicine and counseling.
‘Punarjani’ Charitable Trust is doing a very great service in this field by making people aware about the adverse effects of alcohol and the truth that alcoholism is a disease and also about the proper means and methods to be followed in order to recover from Alcoholism and to sustain the sobriety of a recovered alcoholic till his death.
“PUNARJANI’’ is also doing selfless services and exemplary works in the field of rehabilitation of alcoholics and their affected relatives to live and recover their lost mental, social, economical and spiritual status and also to heal the psychological wounds and all sorts of losses caused byto his disease - Alcoholism. It is an attempt to recover the lost dignity and integrity of a person, who happens to be an addict of alcohol for a long period .It is very difficult for our social mind to accept an addict even if he totally recovered from his habit or disease,which was actually an illness of body, mind and spirit.
It is an accepted fact that, in its complete sense only about 10 % persons among alcohol consumers may became Alcoholics. They are totally helpless by themselves to recover from their illness and they need external assistance for their physical, mental and spiritual renovations in all spheres of life for their complete recovery. Nevertheless, the other 90% of alcohol consumers firmly believe and propagate that they can start, control and stop the habit of consuming alcohol at their will at any point of time. It is true for them, for these 90% of alcohol consumers but not for the other 10% of alcohol consumers who become addicts by that time.
Unfortunately, one among the many symptoms of Alcoholism ,the false ego prevents them from accepting and admitting their present position that they are slaves, victims and addicts of alcohol. Thus without demarcation both the addicts and social drinkers are not willing to accept the fact that Alcoholism is a disease. Let us consider the general opinion or views of the pubic about Alcoholism. They are generally un aware of the fact that Alcoholism is a disease and as for any other disease it also needs adequate means and methods of treatment for the recovery from it. Moreover, to them an alcoholic abuser is a social outcast and an anti-social, unfit to be tolerated, a burden to the community and family, a bad man, an irresponsible liar without any promptness in action and word. For them it is a futile effort on the part of “PUNARJANI’’ to start and run a Retreat Centre for De Addiction & Rehabilitation of Alcohol-Addicts and thus they are least interested in becoming involved with the projects of “PUNARJANI’’.
The persons who are in need of and who are eagerly waiting for the actualization of this project are the adversely affected persons i.e. Alcoholics and their dependents. They are beings suffering directly and indirectly from the disease of Alcoholism. The after effects of Alcoholism, such as, ‘black outs’, hallucinations, fluctuating moods, humiliation, cruelty and losses in all spheres of their life, in due course etc will make each of them a victim of alcohol and make them mental patients. However, a son, brother or spouse can by themselves can do very little to help an Alcoholic, because their capacity for that will be lost by constant association with an alcoholic who may be their Bread Winner. We can see for ourselves by a simple visit to “PUNARJANI’’ at Poomala, the silent village 13 Km away from Thrissur town, that the efforts of this very small organization has created vast changes in the lives of more than hundreds of Alcoholics and their family members with in a short span of time and with in-adequate facilities or essential requirements.
But Definitely we can predict that “PUNARJANI’’ will change the lives of thousands of Alcoholics ,their family members and next generations .Thus we, the so called Samaritans feel inspired to promote and help this NGO.
Ph.0487-2201332, 09387101015, 16. Please Visit Our Site www. Punarjani.org And promote us by all possible means Mr .Santhosh,Thrissur
