Nanyuki, Kenya (WOMENSENEWS)–My younger sister Linet was 15 when she made friends with kids who turned out to be drug abusers. Soon after these new people came into her life, my mum’s money started disappearing and Linet’s grades drop. In fact her grades were so low that my mother went to Linet’s school to see if there had been an error. That’s when she found out that my little sister had missed many days from school and that she was lying about how she was spending her days.
From there things only got worse. One morning my mum went into Linet’s room to wake her up for school and she found her shaking on her bed. She told mum that she wanted to see her friend and mum called him for her. Shortly after he arrived, she was very jovial and mum suspected that there was something going on between Linet her friend. Days passed and she continued becoming worse. She would not comb her hair or shower. She was messier than anyone else in the whole family.
When I came home for the December holiday, my sister seemed creepy. She told me I should use ‘flour’– cocaine — and bhang — a form of marijuana — when I studied. She said it would improve my memory. I refused to take heed of what she was telling me.
The whole time I was home my head ached. Eventually I realized it was because every time I stepped outside the room we shared, Linet would fill the room with smoke from the bhang. The smell of burnt leaves made me sick every day.
She got sloppy with her habit and one day I caught her smoking and told my mum. Instead of getting angry, Mum cried. Within days she took Linet to a rehabilitation centre where she was put on medication to help her stay clean.
I am happy to report my sister is doing very well now. She is back in school, staying clean and being careful about whom she calls a friend.
