Alex
“ I started by betting on sports games. I’m into soccer. First it was local teams then it went international. I did pretty well at first. I was making good money, and I said to myself, ‘this is pretty good.’ I couldn’t wait to get the sports page every day so I could work on my score sheet and analyze the players. I guess it all started there. I’d be up all night analyzing, preparing my bets and then have problems getting to school. But who needed school. I had all this money I could win without an education. Education was for suckers. Soon I had a bookie. I usually called him to place my bets. We have never met as I was introduced by a friend by phone contacts only.
When there was no soccer season, I’d concentrate on 4D and Toto. These soon became my other interests. Then I started losing, I mean really losing. I couldn’t make a good bet on soccer or 4D or Toto. And if I did win, I’d put it right back in. I tried to stop but I kept going back.
My concentration in school was poor. My grades were dropping and I contributed it to common stresses faced nowadays by students to cover my tracks from my parents. My mind was preoccupied with how I could make back the money I had lost. Where am I to find the money needed to bet? I began lying about anything as long as I could get hold of money to gamble with. I even borrowed from friends with the most likely story I could spin. I ended up stealing from my parents, pawning things from home, to pay back my debts that I owed to friends.
I was hoping they wouldn’t know what I was doing. All this hiding tired me but how could I allow my parents to know what I had done. I didn’t want to hurt them. Yet I couldn’t stop.
I started avoiding the friends I borrowed money from when they chased me for their money.
When the parents of my friends started calling home, I would jump and try to reach it first, so that my parents would not know the truth from the other parents. When the truth came out one day, I was thousands of dollars in debt. That night I tried to kill myself. I couldn’t stand hurting my parents like that. That’s when I ended up seeking treatment at CAMP. I am now on the
road to recovery”

Mary, 50 yr old housewife

“It is never easy to get rid of something that holds on to you like a leech. In fact, it is very painful as there is a tug-of-war going on inside. My struggle with compulsive gambling bears testimony to it. My recovery from the addiction has been a long and arduous journey. But with support and advice from my family, church groups and CAMP programmes like BRIDGE, I managed to persevere. Above all, the Higher Power whom I trust has indeed guided me all the way. I know that as long as I remain faithful, I shall conquer.

How did I get into this mess? It was born out of desperation, human weakness and therefore, bad judgment. I was in debt due to a business downturn. To pay it off expeditiously, I turned to gambling in the hope of striking it big. It was a fool's hope! I would have perished in this bottomless pit of "hope" if not for my family, especially my spouse who knocked some sense into me eventually. I returned to the Church and my eyes were opened to see the truth that dispelled the "big lie" of the pot of gold. Let those who have eyes see and have ears hear!”