𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗛𝗼𝗽𝗲: 𝗧𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝗵𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘂𝗽

There was a time when Tshering’s life was defined by addiction. His days revolved around substances, and the person he once knew himself to be seemed to disappear beneath them. Today, he looks back on that time with a sense of acceptance because his story did not end there.

Through the resolute vision of Her Majesty The Gyaltsuen and the dedicated team at Mitshey Yarab Lamzang, PEMA’s rehabilitation centre, Tshering was given the chance to start again.

“Mitshey Yarab Lamzang did not simply teach me how to give up substances,” says the 39-year-old from Bjoka, Zhemgang. “It taught me how to reclaim my life.”

Inside the centre, recovery became more than learning to live without drugs. It became a deeply personal journey of finding himself again. His dignity, self-respect, discipline, and belief that his life could still have meaning. Tshering also discovered that recovery could not simply mean walking away from his past. He needed something to walk towards, and the centre helped him find that too.

During his rehabilitation, he completed a five-day Social Entrepreneurship Programme, followed by a 10-day Digital Skilling Programme and a 90-day training in Generative AI Fundamentals and Applications.

In just eight months, he earned certificates that he had never imagined possible after he left education once he completed Class 12. To others, they may look like pieces of paper. But to Tshering, they are “milestones carved into the landscape of recovery”.

Today, he looks forward to joining more De-Suung Skilling Programmes. His plan is to spend the next two years or so in Thimphu, helping his friends through their own recovery journeys, before returning to his village to use his skills and contribute in whatever way he can. The opportunity to serve as Dessung, which is vital part of the aftercare program was a gift from His Majesty to the facilitate recovery and reintergration.

Tshering describes Mitshey Yarab Lamzang as a “sanctuary of transformation.” It was there that he rediscovered faith and began to see his past differently. He learned that his experience with addiction did not have to remain a source of shame. It could become a source of empathy and understanding, and a reason to reach back and help someone who is still struggling.

His past will always be part of his story. But it no longer gets to decide how that story ends.

“I was given another chance to live,” Tshering says. “Now, I aspire to become a reason for someone else to believe that beginning again is possible.”

𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗲: Story and picture are shared with permission.

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