THE First Cebu Group of Alcoholics Anonymous celebrated its 30th year last Dec. 10, 2014. The group continues to hold meetings for those who need their support from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. every Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the convent of the Redemptorist Church, on Queen’s Road, Cebu City.
The organization was founded in 1984, with Fr. Paddy Martin, a Redemptorist priest, pioneering the first meeting in Cebu.
The organization, Alcoholics Anonymous, was established in Akron/Ohio, USA, on June 10, 1935 by two men–a stock broker and a doctor. They realized that by talking and sharing their experience with another person who had the same problems caused by drinking, they could help each other to stay sober.
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an international fellowship of men and women who have had a drinking problem. It is non-professional, self-supporting, multi-racial and apolitical. There are no age or education requirements.
Meetings
Membership is open to anyone who wants to do something about his or her drinking problem, and attendance at meetings is free.
Alcoholics Anonymous in Cebu holds “open meetings” on Fridays in Cebuano and Saturdays in English, where anyone who wants to know more about the organization are welcome to attend.
The group also encourages professional people like nurses and doctors who meet patients with the problem every day to attend and find out how they can help their patients to recover through the free help of AA.
The meetings on Mondays and Thursdays are called “closed meetings.” It is designed for people who admit they have a drinking problem and want to do something about it, and can, therefore, attend meetings that are totally confidential in nature.
For interested participants, there is no need to make any arrangements to attend the meetings; one may just show up on time before the meetings start.
For more information, contact the helpline in Cebuano and English 24/7: 406-4456 or 0917-3286177. One may also check out the group’s website at http://aaphilippines-cebu.info.