From client to colleague
Chimba’s journey
After losing his father, Chimba spent years in heroin addiction around Lusaka’s Intercity bus station. Today he is over a year sober, back in school, and works at Sanity House helping others recover.
In 2016, Chimba turned to marijuana and codeine to cope with the pain of losing his father. By 2017 he had been introduced to heroin, a struggle that continued for years. He dropped out of university, sold his belongings and stole to feed his addiction.
For years he survived around Lusaka’s Intercity bus station, washing cars, selling reflectors and pushing wheelbarrows. In 2025, his late father’s relatives found him and checked him in at Sanity House.
Chimba committed himself to recovery. He is now over a year sober, has returned to school, and is a trained Addiction Recovery Professional and Psychosocial Counsellor. Today he works at the very centre where he was treated, helping current clients through their own recovery.
The man who once needed help is now helping others find hope.
