My name is Solomon Gitau Kilanga, I wrote the book Chokora – My life as an addict. I was one of those really privileged children whole growing up, however by age 13 i began experimenting with alcohol use, by 18 i was addicted and at the age of 31yrs, i became homeless and lived in the streets as a street boy ‘chokora’ as we call them in Swahili.
And when all seemed hopelessly lost by the age of 34, while still living on the streets as an eyesore covered in lice and with a failed suicide behind me, God in His mercy pulled me out of those streets and restored me.
Today , i run a ministry called Greater Life Concern (GLC) that rescues and rehabilitates adult men living on the streets. The book traces my journey from childhood and the lessons learnt along the way. From being raised as a privileged child by well off parents, educated in some of the best schools of the time, to the pain, misery, deprivation and despair of the later years living in the streets as an adult male, treated as scum by society and derogatively referred to as “Chokora”, and exploring the underlying issues that led to this state of affairs.
Thus my book is a call to society to join hands, remove the stigma, and work together if we are to eradicate the scourge of alcoholism and drug addiction in our society especially among the boychild. I seek to clearly point out that irrespective of age, social status, religion or education, alcoholism and drug addiction (ADA) can happen to you or your loved ones.
We need to change societal perspectives on addicts and streetmen….are they all worthless scum or are there those who are genuinely remorseful and only require a Hand-Up ( Not a HANDOUT) to change their lives? I seek to get society to pull its collective head out of the sand and stop the blame game and denial prevalent among addicts, family members and society in general and get together to seek meaningful solutions to our ADA issues and the underlying mental health issues that contribute to the rising number of drug and alcohol users especially among the youth..
Most importantly, the book aims to clearly demonstrate the redeeming power of God over all issues including ADA.
It was purely accidental that i got into writing and i would just like to use it as encouragement for someone who wants to write but A) doesn’t know how to go about it, B) Has heard it is too expensive and C) Cant imagine who would want to read, let alone buy what they have written; If you’re there, like i was, just take the step and TRUST GOD. At the beginning of 2020, our organization was going through a rough patch financially and we had residents at our centre who needed food, medication etc, my personal finances were also highly strained.
I turned to God for a solution and the thought of writing a book on my experiences was born; From everything I’d heard about writing and publishing, the task seemed monumental and far too expensive.
So i first did what was within my means and bought an A4 book and a biro ( initial investment was less than 100/- ) and over the next few days, i wrote my story; meanwhile my finances were dwindling.
I typed out my story on a computer all the while wondering where the money to publish would ever come from; but again, i chose to trust that God had an answer. Only after the manuscript was saved to my computer did i accidentally learn about CLC, It was the first time i had ever heard of print on demand and when i called, they demystified the printing/ publishing issue for me. I then printed two trial copies, reviewed, revised, made corrections and printed another two; by the sixth print, i was satisfied and printed 20 copies…..all the while wondering who would buy a book about a former homeless alcoholic?
Once again, God had prepared a way, i went to speak at a “Man Enough” program where the men attending bought the entire 20 copies! From buying the A4 book and biro to the sale of the first 20 copies took approximately 2 months, as they say, the rest is history. God has been gracious, i also met other printers along the way, among them a great gentleman named Kairo who would go on to print several hundred copies of my book as their support for the ministry. Eventually the book began to fulfill the purpose for which it was written….which was to spread awareness and also raise funds for offsetting some running costs of the ministry.
It became :
a) A source of revenue to offset some bills at our centre
b) It was creating awareness on ADA ( alcohol and drug addiction )
c) It began to demystify the adult streetmen ( chokoras) and
d) It continues demonstrating the redeeming power of God
In closing, I’ve never displayed my books in a bookshop and they’re only available at our centre in Ruiru and online at booksformysoul.com. God has enabled the sale of about 2,200 hard copies to date and i have donated about 300 copies to various schools and youth organizations around the country. Mercy Muthoni and the staff at CLC, if you read this, may God bless you for opening the door for me.
It is my prayer you will continue to open this door for many many more.
