A lesson to be learned: from a drug addict to an aspiring football coach

DIMAPUR — Thirty-five year-old Changsang Ongbou from Tuensang district was an unstoppable football player in the early 2000s and went on to represent Nagaland in the Subroto Cup in the U-17 category, his district in the Dr. T Ao trophy and other local tournaments before he got into drugs in the year 2013.

For the love of football he gave up pursuing higher studies after class XII, but little did he comprehend that his foray into drugs would lead him into a life of despair.

Speaking to Eastern Mirror on the eve of International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, Ongbou said he started experimenting with drugs in 2013 in the form of a painkiller, which he started abusing secretly. Slowly, he began to sample other drugs and after four years, his addiction to drugs became obvious to his family members and society.

“My life became hell after getting myself involved with drugs. I started selling household things, disturbing my family and turning their lives around,” he said.

Sober for the last six years, Ongbou, who is aspiring to become a coach under the All India Football Federation, pleaded that youths should not touch any drugs, “not even for fun or to taste.”

Interestingly, Son Kük Laang (SKL) Football Club, the club where Ongbou is both the coach as well as a player, is the defending champion of the 30th Loyem Memorial Trophy: an apt testimony to his victory over drugs.

Recounting how he got into rehabilitation centre and prayer home to overcome his addiction, he acknowledged the love and support showered by his family members during the dark phase.

“But this alone would not have helped me to recover if my family had not supported and cared for me, shown love, understanding and patience during my road to recovery,” he said while pointing out that most of the recovering addicts tend to relapse because of lack of support from the family and stigmatisation from society.

Addiction, he shared, is a disease which can be cured.

“Many families are ashamed of their own family who are into drugs and fail to support or guide them to recover. If not for two-three years, families should extend support at least for few months to help an addict recover,” he implored based on his experience.

“The society should or must understand and differentiate between peddlers and users because users and peddlers have different stories to tell. Why peddlers sell illegal drugs I don’t know, but why we are into illegal drugs that I have lots of experience. But I request our people to think carefully that before calling someone as a drugs user or an alcoholic, we are human first,” Ongbou shared.

According to him, many youths get into drugs not solely for fun but out of frustration from being jobless, lack of education or nagging from families, which can plunge them into depression.

He also suggested that students in schools and even the dropouts should be imparted skill development training to keep them busy so that they don’t get into drugs.

Ongbou, who has recently appeared for the AIFF D license coach which was held in Phek district, is awaiting the result.

Drug users need help not punishment

“Substance use can be challenging to treat but definitely possible. Today is my child, tomorrow it may be yours – be it use of substance or road to recovery. The person using drugs is not only a danger to themselves but to everybody around them. However, the support system around them needs to be patient, devoted and considerate to help them overcome the dangers that they have got themselves involved it.”

These are the exact words of Ngonyu, a mother of four children – three sons and a daughter – as shared to Eastern Mirror.

Ngonyu confided that she has gone through “hell on earth” as she helplessly watched two of her sons fall prey to drugs, one of whom died of drug overdose.

A user gets into drugs through bad habits, friends, bad influence, peer pressure and frustration; also depression is another reason for them to get into drugs, she shared.

Having gone through the chaos of drug users and their behaviour in her own home, she said “when we talk about financial security we cannot deal with anyone that is abusing drugs. For secure community we should emphasise on preventive measures and not on punishment or stigmatisation. We should stop stigmatisation of drug users as such act makes it difficult for them to stop using drugs.”

Over the years, Ngonyu has become more understanding and supportive when dealing with drug users after having lost one of her sons to drugs. Although it was too late to save her son, she said she could save another son by being patient, supportive and understanding.

Even though she cannot be a messenger at large for families with drug users, she said she tries to reason and make the families in her community and village understand how to deal with drug users through her experience so that at least a family can come out from what they are going through.

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