AA: Sober Celebration

In a small upstairs room in a parish hall near St Mary’s Catholic Church, a group of men pour out their hearts to one another, thanking God for saving them from the perilous clutches of alcoholism, a condition they say almost cost them everything.

Not only have they come to the Alcoholics Anonymous meeting to lean on each other for support in their fight against the bottle, they are also here to celebrate one man who is marking 15 years of sobriety.

The meeting is alive with hugs, handshakes and welcoming smiles. Generous slices of cake are passed around and the group sings a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday to mark their mate’s important milestone. At one time, said the man of the hour, 15 days without alcohol would have been a miracle, let alone 15 years.

“For a person like me, nothing short of a miracle was going to work for me,” says John, seated comfortably with his friends in a circle of plastic lawn chairs.

In the early 1990s after years of drinking and getting high on illicit drugs, John, from India, landed in hospital knocking on death’s door.

“At that time, my living skills were reduced to living like an animal. I didn’t know whether I was coming or going. Being dishonest was a way of life for me,” he said, noting he would beg, borrow and steal to secure his next fix.

It was then that John experienced an epiphany and decided to live without alcohol and drugs.

The journey to sobriety, however, proved harder than a previous life spent inebriated and drugged, he said. Loved ones often didn’t understand the struggle and neither did friends.

Those at AA, however, never waned in their support.

“Since then, it’s been one hell of a journey,” he said to fellow AA members.

Thanks to a lot of individual work and the support of the group, John said he learnt to accept things around him and learnt to take responsibility. “If I mess things up, I have no one to blame but myself,” he said. “This journey has given me self- respect, I now love myself.”

John’s face is bright as he is handed a 15-year pin.

There are others who understand the moment well.

Tim, an Indian, founded the first AA chapter in the UAE in 1977 and, 30 years later, feels fulfilled that not only his own life, but the lives of others, have been saved from alcoholism.

Tomorrow, Tim is expecting hundreds of AA members from across Dubai to converge for the 30th anniversary celebration of the group here in the city.

“It has saved many, many lives and families,” he said.

That said, Tim says that alcoholism can never be cured.

He lauds John for having the courage to fight the illness.

“We were all on the road to destruction. Coming here is a new lease on life for some,” says Tim, who has been sober for 36 years.

Alcoholics Anonymous works, he said, when other methods fail because only abusers and users truly understand the deep emotions behind powerful addictions. When users and recovering abusers connect, something powerful happens.

“We call it the language of the heart. It’s one sufferer to another sufferer,” Tim says.

Addicts can find a way out from a life that often ends in death or severe impairment. The key to the programme is surviving one day at a time without taking a drink.

“Even one day away from alcohol is a miracle,” he says. “Every day after that is a bonus.”

(Names in this story have been changed to keep identities from being publicly disclosed. The local group will meet in a closed celebration tomorrow in Dubai.)

Step by step

Alcoholics Anonymous was founded in 1935 in Akron, Ohio by a New York stockbroker, Bill Wilson, and an Akron surgeon, Dr Bob Smith.

The group has used a 12-step programme to help millions recover from their illness.

Some of the group’s steps are:
Admitting you are powerless over alcohol - that your lives had become unmanageable; believing that a power greater than yourself could restore you to sanity, making a list of all persons you have harmed, and becoming willing to make amends to them all.

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