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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Promise Eze

The ‘epilepsy warriors’ breaking down the barriers in Cameroon

The message 'end epilepsy stigma' is seen written on seven hands joined together
Patients lend a hand to get the anti-stigma message across in a country with one of the highest global rates of epilepsy. Photograph: Courtesy of Dr Noelar

Courage Vidzengsi had her first epileptic seizure when she was eight. Jerking uncontrollably, she bit her tongue and fell to the ground at the children’s recreation centre. As her seizures became more frequent, her family took her from their home in the city of Bamenda back to her family’s village in Cameroon’s Northwest Region.

There they saw a traditional healer, known as a “Gambé man”, who would “cleanse” the young girl.

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