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Some outstanding women have dedicated themselves to becoming a source of inspiration to others, despite their physical challenges, and they deserve to be applauded.
One of such super women is Sitawa wafula who is the founder of Kenya’s first social support help line.
At age 17, Sitawa Wafula was diagnosed with epilepsy and mental bipolar disorder at age 24 in 2008, despite these obvious challenges, the Kenyan woman surged on with the sole goal of making a name for her self in a country where mental illness, epilepsy especially was considered a taboo.
Undeterred by this, she surged on till she got admitted into the University and got a job on the side while still a student. However, she had to drop out of school as a result of rape, and the stigma that comes with it, and was also sacked at her place of work as a result of consequent seizures.
Sitawa started blogging about her challenges, as a way of dealing with it and also to inspire others like her and make them feel that they are not alone. In 2014, she won a Google competition, a lesser of which she used to start up My Mind My Funk, kenya’s first free mental health support line, where she talks about her daily challenges, dealing with depressions and generally help to provide help for people with the same condition.
The help line was widely accepted by Kenyans and receives over 25,000 messages annually. It has also helped over 11,000 people.
Wafula is a mental health advocate, executive director of the mental health support line, My Mind My Funk and a 2016 Aspen voices fellow.Her story has shown that despite your physical challenge, you can still be successful.
We Celebrate You Sitawa Wafula
