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Karma Pem’s Story

Story

Reconstructing life after de-addiction

Karma Pem, a mother of four boys, had the world on a silver platter till it lost it all and found it again after blood, sweat and tears. She had a cushy job in the Ministry of External Affairs in Thim...

Karma Pem, a mother of four boys, had the world on a silver platter till it lost it all and found it again after blood, sweat and tears. She had a cushy job in the Ministry of External Affairs in Thimphu, Bhutan. When dignitaries from other countries visited the Royal Kingdom of Bhutan, Karma would be a part of the team assigned to them. Yet due to her addiction to alcohol, she has been to her personal hell and back. She spent considerable years of her life in an alcoholic stupor.

Initially, she tried to manage her addiction with periods of sobriety especially at work but eventually she was asked to leave her job. This fuelled her downward spiral into the deeper addiction bringing her literally to the streets. “Once my husband even found me begging on the street,” says Karma Pem. After trying to cope with her bouts of drunkenness, Karma’s husband left her taking their boys away from the mother. “My mother stood by me as a pillar. She never once abandoned me, no matter what I did. She contacted RENEW to find a solution to my addiction. Through them, she found a de-addiction centre in India. She persuaded me to go there and get enrolled. My mother’s persistent efforts brought me back from the brink of personal annihilation.” adds Karma.

Out of her four sons and two of them are recovering addicts. Her own recovery prompted Karma to motivate her sons to go through rehabilitation and pursue their studies. One of her sons is an upcoming football player.

Today, Karma has been clean for about seven years. She is determined to rebuild her life and take control of her destiny. Today she is employed in RENEW’s livelihood’s centre

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