“Before I arrived at Lunas de Maluri I didn’t believe in God, I didn’t believe in anything. I didn’t want to live.”
Roxana Rojas
Roxana Rojas is a recovering addict. What saved her, having hit bottom in 2016, was Lunas de Maluri, a non-profit clinic in Jocotepec.
Housed in a rented, Mexican-style hacienda, the clinic is home to 80 men and women from 15 to 70 years old – all in recovery from various addictions and emotional traumas. Since her arrival, Rojas has made a complete turnaround, going from a heroin junkie living on the streets to a voluntary facilitator, dedicated to helping other addicts.
Born to a German mother and Mexican father in Los Angeles, drugs and alcohol were all Rojas knew. Each of her family members were addicts. Her father spent time in jail, her brother fled the country and then committed suicide when she was 16, and her sister, who was on Los Angeles’ “Most Wanted” list, fled to Mexico.
“Drive-by shootings were a common occurrence,” says Rojas. “At 12, I was using cocaine. By the time I hit my late 20s, I was strung out on everything, from alcohol to heroin to crystal meth.
“Just before hitting bottom, my 10-year marriage ended, my son was living with his dad and I was living on the streets.
“When my marriage broke up,” she continues, “I completely lost my grip on reality. My husband broke my heart and I used that as a pretext to relapse into my addictions.”
Rojas, along with Diana Gorjon, Lunas de Maluri’s assistant administrator, is part of the clinic’s staff with its team of caregivers, including a medical doctor, four psychologists and 10 addiction therapists.
Liliana Luna is the clinic’s founder and general director. The clinic’s full name, 5 Lunas de Maluri, refers to her five siblings and her mother, Maluri, who died an alcoholic. As a full-time resident of the clinic, she creates and organizes all of its activities.
“I grew up in a troubled family in Guadalajara,” says Luna. “I was 15 when I had my first spiritual experience with the 12-step program. Four years later I organized my own 12-step group in Guadalajara.” She moved the clinic to its current location six years ago.
Back in 2016, when Rojas hit rock bottom, she was given the option to check into a rehab center in the Los Angeles area, but declined. “I didn’t want to get better. Rosa, my sister, knew what was happening with me and invited me to live with her in Los Cabos. She picked me up in L.A. and, instead of driving to Los Cabos, drove to Lunas de Maluri. She had planned it all out beforehand.”
Rojas arrived at the clinic unable to speak or walk and the staff took complete care of her. “I was in bed, sick from heroin withdrawal. I had to be on an I.V. for 15 days, with a staff member sleeping with me. Never having dealt with a heroin addict before, they didn’t have to accept me, but they did, and they saved my life.”
After months of rehab and hard work, Rojas earned the privilege of living outside the clinic and helping other addicts. She chose, though, to remain at the clinic, where she pays a monthly fee, gets fed, and sleeps in a sleeping bag on the floor, offering her bed to others more in need.
Says Rojas: “At Lunas de Maluri our doors are always open. If someone wants to get better, we won’t close the door on them. I had never seen this kind of care in the United States. Here, it’s all about love. In the U.S. it’s all about business.”
Besides attending daily 12-step meetings, patients at Lunas de Maluri can attend classes in meditation, yoga, drawing, painting and dancing, plus partake in field trips and community activities.
Says Rojas, “Our clinic isn’t like other Mexican clinics I’ve seen, where patients are treated worse than dogs. I’ve met 18-year-old boys who have been to multiple rehab centers consisting mostly of violence and punishment. They end up getting worse and resenting their families for taking them there.”
Luna adds: “As human beings, we’ve completely lost our grip of what’s really important. My role as a humanitarian is to be of service to others. Every morning I wake up and say, what can I do? My biggest triumph is to see someone like Roxana transform into a highly functioning, loving woman. In regard to the 12 Steps, she’s someone who’s truly reached the 12th Step.”
From the dark days of living on the streets to the present, Rojas has become, in her words, “a guerrero, a warrior.”
“I arrived at Lunas de Maluri completely broken and had to let go of everything, even my son. The universe has since returned everything tenfold. I’m now a mother again to a happy seven-year-old, and travel to L.A. and Los Cabos to visit my son and my sister. I teach English and help those who want to recover from their addictions. I love my family and can now understand how we all shared the same sickness.”
She continues: “Many young adults know only gang life. Our clinic allows these kids to finally receive and return love. Seeing these transformations take place is life-changing. If one recovering addict can help another addict to change, it can transform a community, a country. That’s what all of us at Lunas de Maluri aspire to.”
Roxana Rojas and Diana Gorjon will speak about Lunas de Maluri at Open Circle, August 19, 10:30 a.m., at the Lake Chapala Society.