The man who ‘became’ St Marks

Former clients of a Marlborough addiction centre have said an emotional goodbye to the man who became a turning point in their recovery.

Tissue boxes lined the aisles as colleagues and staff from Blenheim’s Wairau Hospital and the Department of Corrections, as well as former clients and residents, farewelled manager Peter Rijhnen at St Marks Addiction Residential Treatment Centre on Wednesday.

His wife Nisargo van de Meent said Rijhnen had ‘‘become’’ St Marks in his three-and-a-half years managing the centre.

‘‘Peter doesn’t do jobs, he becomes. And he became St Marks, in every breath he took and every move he made.’’

Colleague and friend Teve Taukamo, who had been involved with St Marks for a decade, said Rijhnen had furnished the centre with people and ‘‘with a tikanga of love and healing’’.

‘‘I thank you for providing an environment that is safe enough to be, to feel, to heal,’’ she said.

Current and former clients spoke about their gratitude for the home and wha¯nau they had found at St Marks.

Some said his support, including an open-door policy and ‘‘boundless energy’’ had saved them from ‘‘a life of drugs, death and institution’’.

‘‘When you hit the ground and it’s pretty hard to get up, guys like me can only get up because of advice from people like yourself,’’ a former client said.

‘‘And to know it’s OK to ask for help and to try again. And again and again and again if that’s what it takes.’’

Rijhnen was visibly emotional as he heard the tributes.

He said he could not put into words what he had learnt as manager.

‘‘This is one of the most important jobs that I had in my life and one of the jobs where I have connected not only with my way of thinking but with my heart.’’

Coming from the Netherlands 11 years ago, he said New Zealand still had a long way to go in removing the stigma of addiction.

There needed to be a shift from punishment to treatment, because ‘‘you don’t solve that by locking them up in a prison’’, he said.

‘‘They come out and another stigma.

‘‘Now you’re not only an addict, you’re a criminal.’’

He said we could remove the stigma of addiction even by changing our wording.

‘‘I never talk about addicts, I talk about people that have an addiction,’’ he said.

‘‘The moment that you say an addict, it means that people cannot change because it’s what they are. It’s something that you do, it’s not what you are.’’

He said alcohol remained the biggest substance addiction in Marlborough, but meth was also on the rise. As it had been three years ago, the biggest challenge remained funding.

Rijhnen’s successor Paul Hanton said the outgoing manager was one of the few people whose integrity was bigger than their ego. He said he was ‘‘honoured’’ to take over as manager and would continue Rijhnen’s good work. there’s