Last April, your donations helped establish the Rewa Recovery Centre in Rajpur – a rehabilitation clinic for Tibetans in north India. Unlike stricter regimes common in India, Rewa is run on the tenets of compassion and trust. Thanks to you, we can support the centre’s vital rehab programme, as well as its core costs, which include rent and staff salaries.
Ngawang Nyima, Rewa’s founder and owner, shares his insights and philosophy on rehabilitation within the Tibetan exile community:
“I’ve been clean and sober for many years. I now live in Dehradun, India, with my lovely wife and two beautiful daughters. For the past 18 years, I have worked with thousands of Tibetans who are battling addiction, and the number is still growing. In April 2022, with the help of Tibet Relief Fund, I was able to realise my dream of opening the Residential Rehabilitation Centre “Rewa”, which means hope in Tibetan.
As a refugee, I have dealt with many of the issues that Tibetans encounter in different countries – like language barriers, identity crisis, mixed cultural values, and most of all, drug and alcohol abuse. There’s a huge number of young Tibetans who have dropped out of school, are unemployed, have broken families, have experienced trauma, suffer from mental health issues, and even instances of premature death due to drug overdose.
My goal in starting Rewa is to give Tibetans suffering with addiction a new chance at life. I am concerned when I see and hear about Tibetans falling victim to addiction, because I have lived this life and know how dreadful it is. Since Rewa’s founding last year, we have assisted around 30 patients in recovering from addiction and today they are living a normal life. Rewa also helped some patients get jobs by recommending them in their respected field. Rewa also conducts substance abuse awareness programs in schools and settlements throughout India. I believe we still have a long way to go.“
