Paul H. Williams, Gleaner Writer

Lester Henderson (right), a recovering alcoholic, has a strong yearning to see his wife and daughters. - Roger Robinson/Freelance Photographer

When Lester Henderson, a deportee, arrived at the Norman Manley International Airport about three years ago, he had nothing. A woman gave him a $100 and a lift to downtown Kingston. He quickly found a bar and bought some rum. A slave to alcoholism, being back in the island after living illegally in the United States for 16 years was not helping either.

Said Lester: "I didn't really want to come back like this, 'cause I come back with nothing, absolutely nothing, (except for) one suit a clothes on mi back."

He headed to Constant Spring where he used to hang out. A friend gave him money to buy food. Instead, he bought rum. The next phase of his alcohol-addicted life was about to commence.

Lester said, "Every day I drunk, I don't know myself, if you ask me today is what, I couldn't tell you. Every day is like I'm running crazy. I go in the park by Constant Spring and a siddung over there, me alone drinking rum, not doing nothing, I space out."

Ruined his life

Alcohol has ruined his life for more than 30 years. He explained, "For the year, I might lose 15 jobs because of the alcohol. If I am drinking, I suppose to stop drink from Saturday evening, but I carry on drinking straight down to Monday evening; it almost kill mi, and I can't function, I can't wake up."

His love for liquor started when he was growing up in Portland as a 10-year-old, stealing a sip when his father sent him to buy white rum. And the vicious circle continued into adulthood.

" I don't know nothing else but the liquor. The liquor was my wife, the liquor was my friend, the liquor was ... my life, the liquor was my god ... . Sometimes, I was really lonely and when I went into the bar, I happy now," Lester told His Story.

Many times he woke up at home and didn't know how he got there. When he recovered, his body would ache and there were cuts and bruises all over.

His family was torn apart.

Marriage ended

Lester said, "Sometime me and my wife bex (vex) and I suck mi teeth and walk out. I head straight to the bar, 'cause I never use to go to church. She want me to come to church. She want me to get in the spirit, but there was another spirit holding me back, saying come on and I gone to that spirit." The marriage inevitably ended.

With his life in tatters, he left for the United States, on a visitor's visa, perhaps never to return. He struggled to survive the vicissitudes of life in the 'land of the free and the home of the brave'. It was a long ride on the alcohol-saturated road to perdition, which led to several drunk-driving crashes and arrests. One night, his luck ran out.

"I crashed into the lady's gate. When I wake, I wake up in the jail the next morning. The police tell me that I was singing the night before, and I didn't remember where I was, and they dig me out of the car with iron bar. I don't remember all that, 'cause I was drinking the beer," Lester revealed.

After background checks were made, the cops discovered he was an illegal alien. And Uncle Sam spared no time in deporting him.

Back in Jamaica, he was still at rock bottom. Lester said, "I go into the bar and I started to drink again, I don't know myself, I say life is through with me now."

Then a pastor told him to enrol with Teen Challenge, a residential rehabilitation and recovery programme in Ocho Rios, St Ann. He has been with the programme for 16 months and graduates in March. Through a holistic approach by the centre, and his own self-determination, he is transforming his life.

"I think I would not stop drink, I thought I was just going to give my life away to drinking, and I come here (Teen Challenge), and God come into mi life and I feel 100 per cent better by not drinking," he said relieved.

Longing to see his wife

Though on the road to recovery, Lester still has a strong yearning to see his wife and daughters, Stephanie and Michelle. "The liquor is the one that break up my family, but now that I not drinking again, I start to wonder if I can get back to my wife." He hasn't seen his wife for almost two decades, and doesn't know where his family is.

As tears welled up in his eyes, Lester, now 63, said, "I do not know which part my two daughter is, to be honest, to God, and they don't know where I am ... I would apologise to them, to say that I am sorry for using alcohol to separate from them. I would love to see them again ... because now I find myself getting better, and better, and better, every day.

"I getting stronger now. I can get up in the morning, can talk to people, can go back in society now, I am a different father. I hope to God it was better between me and them ..."

paul.williams@gleanerjm.com