Oola on overcoming alcohol addiction

When Samuel Oola was growing up, his lifestyle was entrenched in Christian values of humility, kindness, generosity and patience. However, after joining Makerere University in 2000 to study a Bachelor of Laws (LLB), he soon realised that other students cared less about his moral values.
“Here I was being nice to my fellow students, yet they were dishonest. For instance, my class notes were repeatedly stolen, a habit I found very frustrating. There were also those who borrowed my money and refused to pay back,” he says.
Since in most universities there are students who think they are better and “cooler” than others, Oola found himself being bullied by this group. Overall, he says, upon joining university, he was thrown into a world of chaos where life was not easy and the school process was tedious that he became overwhelmed.

Start of addiction
One evening, while hanging out with a few friends in Kikoni, a Makerere university neighbourhood, Oola’s misery flashed before his eyes.
“I was thinking about so many things when the idea of drinking beer cropped up. Initially, I had been taking a soda but suddenly lost interest in drinking it. I told the waiter to give me beer, something similar to what my friends were taking,” he says.
He took two bottles of beer that evening. The following day, he went for an early morning lesson while nursing a hangover.
“I remember those sitting next to me complaining that I smelt of alcohol. I felt ashamed and left the class immediately,” he says, adding that unfortunately, because being drunk had helped him forget his worries for a while, he started drinking alcohol on a daily basis.

The effects
Because Ooala had used up most of his money, he resorted to drinking alcohol in sachets, which was more affordable than the bottled one. Sometimes, in order to get money to buy alcohol, Oola would do coursework for other students in return for a payment.
“It is this money from students that I would at times use to cater for my addiction,” he says.
Then, there were certain times he would drink, go to class and cause chaos and lessons would then be stopped prematurely.
One time, Oola fought with another student after both getting drunk and disagreeing over a tribal incident. They were later called by the university’s disciplinary committee to answer their case.
“The university threatened to expel us. I did not care and told them that I was actually happy with their decision,” he says. Although he was not expelled this time, Oola’s addiction drove him to participate in some of the university strikes.

Health effects
The addiction affected Oola’s health in a number of ways. There were moments he became anxious, restless and had incoherent speech. His appetite also became poor because he would use all the money he had to buy alcohol. Sometimes, he says, he would drink too much that he forgot to eat.

In due course, he developed issues with his liver and one time, while taking a liver functioning test, he was informed that the alcohol was eroding the body organ. In addition, he began having erectile dysfunction. Both health issues were eventually dealt with by doctors.

Leaving university
One day, Oola decided to pay a visit to Dr Sylvia Tamale, the then dean of the Faculty of Law at the university and expressed his desire to leave the university.
“She discouraged me from going through with the idea. In fact, she said I had bright future ahead,” he says, adding, “And since she was already aware of my drinking problem, she encouraged me to get counselling rather than quit school.”
Initially, Oola had requested Tamale to write a letter notifying the administration about his wish to leave the university. She refused to write it that day and instead urged him to get professional help.
Oola refused to get help and kept pestering Tamale to write the letter. Eventually, she honoured his wish and wrote it and this saw Oola drop out of school after completing second year.

Rehabilitation
After learning that he had dropped out of school, his parents, a priest and some of the university staff devised a plan to take Oola to a rehabilitation centre. He ended up at Serenity Rehabilitation Centre where addicts are helped to overcome their addictions.
However, Oola found it had to cope with a life of sobriety. “Days felt longer. Sometimes, I would get bored and the craving for alcohol would set in. Not forgetting, there were also the recurring nightmares.”
It is for such reasons that he was often given medication to help calm him down. In addition, the counselling from staff members also helped him cope and after three months, he left .

Life after rehabilitation
After leaving the centre, Oola went back to Makerere University to resume his law degree. However, there was one particular friend who kept coercing him to drink again. He often offered to buy Oola a drink. “And I would always turn him down,” he says.
However, one time when Oola needed money, he approached his friend for a loan.
“He was willing to give me the money on condition that I drink alcohol first, an idea I reluctantly accepted,” he says.
That day, Oola took one beer and that’s when he relapsed. During the days that followed, he found himself drinking more and more. And that became his life again, day in, day out until a university affiliated Christian group; the Navigators approached Oola and urged him to turn his life around.
His studies had been affected too. In fact, during the second semester of third year, he left the university, went back to Nwoya District in northern Uganda, and started farming.
“I became a progressive commercial farmer of groundnuts, sorghum and simsim,” he says. Something surprisingly happened as he actively did his farming.
“I suddenly stopped drinking. Probably, the amount of time I was investing into farming did not allow me to think about alcohol,” he says.
Although he was doing remarkable work as a farmer, Oola could not run away from the fact that he had not completed his law degree.
“I felt like a school dropout and that haunted me, a lot,” he says. For this particular reason, Oola wrote to the Makerere University senate requesting to be re-admitted again.
“I was lucky that I was allowed back to continue my studies,” he says. The now 39-year-old resumed his studies in the academic year 2018/19. Currently, he is in second semester, third year and juggles his studies with farm work.

Coping mechanism
Oola credits the Navigators for helping him recover again.
“Previously, I stayed with one of the group members who counselled me on the dangers of alcohol,” he says, adding, “He also gave me motivational books intended to help me break free from the habit.”
Oola, the father of a seven-year-old daughter says the last time he took any alcohol was in 2016. In order to limit his chances of relapsing, he follows particular principles. For example, he stopped eating pork because it ignites his craving for alcohol.
He also does not listen to particular music or go to certain places as a way of limiting temptations.
Most importantly, his past misfortunes brought about drinking is a constant reminder to always keep away from alcohol. To other individuals silently battling alcohol addiction, Oola advises them to get professional help before it is too late.

Dealing with alcohol addiction

Albert Louis Elwa, the director of Recovery Uganda, a nonprofit organisation formed by individuals recovering from substance addiction, says,
“Alcoholics need to identify their triggers including people, places, and items (such as cigarettes), then, try to avoid them as much as possible. Family members and friends need to realise that addiction is a disease. Rather than judge the individual, it is important that they get professional help for their loved one, for example taking them to a rehabilitation facility.”