Poverty, love and drugs: Julius shares his journey to depression

Depression levels tend to be higher in poverty-stricken areas. The irony of this fact is that in Kenya, depression medication and therapy sessions are way too costly for the most affected to afford. In the heart of Kawangware, we came face to face with the sad reality of how people who are mentally unstable turn to drugs to suppress the impact of their condition, becoming addicts in the long-run. We got to speak to one Julius Kamau who explained how he ended up on the streets and eventually got addicted to Heroin. Julius was brought up by a single mother and surviving was proving to be difficult as he grew. Young Kamau fled from home to the streets to try and make ends meet. This was the beginning of his many misfortunes. With no one to turn to and no home to go to, Julius turned to cheap drugs for consolation. Within no time, he made his way to the coastal region where he met a woman of Italian descent and developed a relationship. The woman introduced Kamau to Heroin and she would readily provide it to him. After a while, the two fell-out and unfortunately for Julius, he was already hooked. He again found his way back to Nairobi and was lucky enough to land a job. This, however, was not to last long. His boss found out that he was abusing drugs and fired him pronto. He was out in the cold streets again; desperate and hungry to get money for his ever-growing thirst for Heroin. A craving that has led him to commit crimes in the streets. He however believes that there is still hope and he has an appeal to the government of Kenya: