120 thousand years of happiness

Rehabilitation Center "House of Hope on Mountain" celebrated the 25th anniversary

There was no, no, and there will be no person to come here for the first time from a good life. About a third visit St. Petersburg for the birthday of Hope Hope on Mountain-always on the third Saturday of June-on the second (third, tenth) times already from a good life and out of gratitude. This is not so often encountered, but the thing necessary for the sober “software alcoholic” is made.

The idea that happiness is just a lack of misfortune to begin with is born in ancient Greece, but remains relevant. Alcoholics, who, according to experts, are approximately 4-5% of the world's population, understand this like no one, because they (us) were shitty and unbearably a shame. First, to break away from the misfortune, the rest will fit - but only if you succeed in being honest.

Now about how we thought. For 25 years, a 28-day course under the program of “anonymous alcoholics” (AA) in the House of Hope on Mountain near St. Petersburg has passed more than 10 thousand people from different cities and weights. Among them there are those who remain sober for 25 years, someone for two years, we do not consider a year, because in 2020 the house was forced to suspend work because of Covid. If about a second life receives about a third, and the average term of remission (this disease is in principle incurable, you can only get rid of dependence), we will be considered 10 years, then 10,000: 3 x 10 = 33 333.3 ... with mothers (dads), wives (husbands), with already born children - just about 120 thousand years. Perhaps more.

18 years ago, when I was already expelled from everywhere, the famous for readers Dmitry Muratov picked me up simply by friendship, barely hoping that I could be useful to the "new". Rather, he thought that he would not have toil with me for long. And he would have been 100% of his rights, but “anonymous alcoholics” intervened in the case and what is called “Higher Power” in AA.

I escaped through AA groups, when the house was not so famous yet and the program in it was mainly inhabitants of the cultural capital. But I am grateful to the house for saving others, not making differences between those who have matured, neither by place of residence, nor by gender, nor by nationality or religion, nor in terms of income, and some of these rescued, by the way, you also know.

I write this note, of course, under the pseudonym, anonymity is an important AA tradition. Its meaning is that the alcoholic can always break back into hell, and then his bragging will make a bad impression on those who are at that moment there and it will be more difficult for them to get out. On the other hand, it is important to give them hope, and this is the message of my statement. 18 years of remission already give me some reason for him, even if this is not a guarantee, like all that is on Earth.

I feel normal! I am not ashamed for a long time! For these 18 years, I have done a lot of what I dreamed about, and in any case much more than before.

There is an opinion that alcoholics are some special-talented and sincere-people. This is a myth, I have seen them a lot. We are the same as everyone, only sick, and this, apparently, is genetics. Only the “software” alcoholic is much better than the average Homo sapiens: it will not get out of hell, if he does not learn honesty. The essence of the AA program was definitely formulated by the St. Petersburg Comedian Trest, who spoke among others at the anniversary of the house: “I did not want to be a moose on the Christmas tree, but KamAZ to meet it-and he had to” (the author-Irina walked).

25 years ago, the house of Nadezhda was founded by the doctor Evgeny Zubkov (his mother-vodolaz during the Leningrad blockade came up with a pipe on the bottom of Lake Ladoga and thereby saved thousands of lives), artist Dmitry Shagin (Mitet) and American billionaire Lu Bentle (in the United States, support for such centers, there are also tax benefits for such benefactors). But in 2010, Bentle died, and his heirs ordered to convey: "Let Russian billionaires save you now, you already have them." And it is difficult to disagree with this, but our oligarchs, unfortunately, have not yet understood this.

Abstracting from the moral side of the issue, from an economic point of view it is cheaper to return a qualified alcoholic to the life of a qualified alcohol than to find in his place and train a new employee. And if it is a pilot of an airplane or a leading theater actor? (By the way, I know such in AA). To rush to people is uneconomical.

And if you still look in the other direction, then every person deserves to save him (unless, of course, he himself is opposed, but then see above about the moose). This, in fact, is the main idea of ​​Christianity. But God rarely acts directly, preferring to save people through other people - and this is the AA program.

Along with Pandemia, to temporarily closing the house (while maintaining infrastructure, and most importantly, its unique team), an attempt led after refusing to financing from state structures - to work partially on a paid basis: nothing of this happened and could not work out, since the house was not sharpened with money from the very beginning.

In short, rehabilitation in the house of hope is fundamentally free (and for some reason the paid one helps much worse); By virtue of the "Law on Foreign Agents", except for rubles, nothing can receive anything - that is, it needs your help. The content of one who decided to quit drinking here for 28 days costs about 80 thousand rubles - save this person!

For the anniversary, the chairman of the Just Russia Sergey Mironov came to us. Since he is a geophysicist in life, he presented the amethyst (amethyst is considered a stone of sobriety, and see the Internet on the Internet) and promised the house from his pocket a monthly large and round sum. I do not demand to vote for him in September, but I urge you to immediately follow his example. Those who do not have so much can and less. On the site of the House of Hope on the Mountain there is a button for donations.

Nikita, alcoholic (current exhibit and much more)