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How Kalyango overcame alcoholism

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Moses Kavuma Kalyango‘s life took a turn when he failed to get the education he very much desired. His hopelessness led him into excessive drinking for solace and this resulted into liver disease that almost took his life. He is grateful to God for seeing him through fighting the disease, to getting saved. He narrated his story to Lilian Ntege.

It is hard, but possible to say goodbye to alcoholism (Photo/Promises Austin)

Testimony
The 42-year-old Kalyango stays in Nansana but came from Rwamata, Kiboga district in 1996 to stay with his grandfather during his primary seven vacation.
He attended New Styles Secondary School, Kawaala, and studied up to the first term of senior four.
“My aunt who was helping me with school fees got some issues and could no longer raise all my tuition, she asked me to start looking for half of the money by myself,” he says.
Kalyango lost hope when he failed to raise tuition and registration money for the following term and decided to re-direct his focus.
His grandfather later on connected him to a construction site where he could provide casual labour like collecting sand, bricks, water and anything needed at the particular moment.
With time, his hope to study again went down the drain and he got comfortable at the construction site with the new company he had accustomed himself to.
“Hoping to recover my lost hope in studying, I joined a group of six young boys. We used to drink heavily and that was our daily routine,” he says.
Kalyango recalls the time he failed to open his house door upon reaching home and he ended up sleeping outside on the veranda after a heavy drinking session.
The drinking habit went on till he decided to get married to his then pregnant girlfriend.
He says: “Though the marriage was not a success, it had helped reduce my drinking rate because I respected my wife. I used to only drink from home and I would not drink too much.”

Moses Kavuma Kalyongo

However, Kalyango’s drinking problem resumed when his wife left.
In 2016, he started to notice his eyes turning yellow. He barely ate anything because he always felt satisfied and had trouble visiting the toilet.
“I started losing weight and this bothered me, but I carried on with my habit. I did not go to hospital because I knew they would ask for money, which I did not have,” Kalyango says.
Upon noticing his worsening state, one of his neighbours contacted a family member to come to his rescue.
Kalyango was taken to Mulago National Referral Hospital, where he was examined and after a series of tests he was diagnosed with liver failure disease.
He was immediately started on medication with the financial support of his friends and family.
During the course of his sickness, he discovered God through a family member who took him to Church. With prayer and adherence to medication, he started to feel better.
Unfortunately he resumed drinking a year later up to 2020 when the disease recurred and this time more painful and severe than it was in 2016.
This was his turning point. He says he discovered he needed God to cleanse him of the spirit of drunkenness.

Getting saved
Kalyango got saved during his battle with liver failure sickness that had returned with severity.
He thought of something to keep him busy apart from alcohol and decided to join Fellowship Ministries International in Kabumbi, Nansana municipality.
“Serving the Lord comes with a peace of mind; I have not had an alcoholic drink since I got saved. Even if I am still on medication, I feel God is healing me,” he says.
He now spends most of his time serving at the Church and praying. He says he has also made better friends.
Kalyango prays he continues living a life free of alcohol.

Key lessons
“I am a grown-up man, I have to be exemplary and I cannot keep being an embarrassment to my children and family,” says Kalyango.
He says his progress so far has taught him that being an alcoholic is no way to live peacefully.
As one gets infested and wasted in alcohol, they lose meaningful relationships and opportunities.

Advice
Kalyango advises the youths to always have faith and belief in God the Almighty.
He adds that grieving or any kind of loss should never lead anyone into alcohol use to find solace.
He says they should seek solace in God instead.

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