So Touching! Epilepsy Activist Shares Her Touching Life Story That Will Inspire You

Kabemba Mwale 

Kabemba Mwale is an epilepsy activist, she shares her story below:

“My name is Kabemba Mwale born 29th December 1982. I am the last born in a family of 4 children. I had my 1st seizure in 1991 on the 29th August. After my second seizure on Christmas Eve ,that same year, my parents then advised the medical staff to find out why I was having more seizures.


This was at the age of 9 and I was schooling at LICEF. I then started going for hospital reviews which in a way affected my school attendance as I would be absent on those review days. As I grew I continued experiencing seizures though the advantage I had was that I could tell as I would have an aura before a convulsion.

I continued to take my medication as prescribed even though I would fit at times. As I approached my late teen years I went into a depression unknowingly. The depression was catalysed by the nature of an antiepileptic drug as it is a suppressant and helps you to rest.

Some family members were not comfortable to have a relative with epilepsy. Some of my grannies also took me to witch doctors as they believed epilepsy was witchcraft. But because of my loving parents who believed in God I was on conventional medication immediately I was diagnosed epileptic.

Fortunately in my case despite not knowing the cause , epilepsy has not affected me mentally or physically. In May 2016 I decided to open up and share my story with the public. I did this by creating a Facebook page called EPILEPSY FORUM WITH KABEMBA MWALE.

This page received overwhelming response that inspired me to encourage others. I therefore decided to take an extra step to reach out through awareness advocacy counseling and epilepsy management as I realised that they are so many people who have the condition but are not aware that there is treatment.

On 25 October of 2016 the KABEMBA MWALE EPILEPSY FOUNDATION was officially registered. My plight to the media is that they are able to provide as much coverage to bring out this silent cause.

I am glad to mention that on the 14 January 2017 I will clock a good 4 years without an attack. This is motivation for others and I am saying that it is possible to lead a great and positive life even with epilepsy.”