Epilepsy passion for fashion: Why everybody is heading to Kisumu

It gets bigger and better, and this year, the Epilepsy Afro Fashion Fair heads to Kisumu. Twenty models are set to hit the runway to showcase various designs from top designers around the country. Among the models, ten are living with epilepsy, and they are willing to risk it all to support the noble cause of creating awareness for the condition.

The Dala Edition 2019 will be on Saturday the 25th of May at the Imperial Hotel, Kisumu. The theme; for Epilepsy Passion for Fashion.

In the lead up to the fair, the models- together with the organizers - will engage in epilepsy awareness campaign around the lakeside county. They will visit at least eight schools and the psychiatric ward at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH), Kisumu.

The Epilepsy Afro Fashion Fair is held annually and is coordinated by the National Epilepsy Coordinator Committee (NECC). The fair seeks to raise awareness about Epilepsy and fundraise to support children living with the condition access medical care.

Why you should plan to attend

The event incorporates fashion designers who come to showcase their creative pieces with models and offer them up for sale. Once sold a percentage of the sale goes towards supporting the cause. It also offers a platform to celebrate our African heritage in music, poetry, spoken word, food, and storytelling.

The Epilepsy Fashion Fair, initiated in 2014 by Epilepsy Awareness activist Fred Beuchi, has had four successful events with this year’s being the fifth edition. The organizers partner with the Epilepsy Neurology Centre, Mombasa to get medication for children living with epilepsy. This year, 20 epilepsy patients at JOOTRH will benefit from free epilepsy medication for one year courtesy of proceeds from the event.

According to epileptologists, after conservative medication for a year, a patient becomes stable and can control his or her seizures.

Proceeds support epileptic children

During the one year that the children living with epilepsy are provided with medication, their parents are also taken through a sensitization program where they are enlightened on how to start businesses that can help them support their epileptic children beyond the one-year medication program.

With the campaign on Epilepsy Awareness only picking momentum, the organizers have had to deal with challenges that otherwise deem to hinder their efficient delivery, particularly insufficient funds.

Considering different patients have varied levels of medication need, there are those who require quite expensive drugs. Speaking to Eve Digital, Fred pinpoints that the program, in dealing with the shortage of funds, sometimes has been forced to cut short their medication support after only eight months. 

In a bid to stay on course, the coordinators are engaging various counties to take up from the program and continue to support the children even when the campaign runs out of funds. Case in point, Kwale County has since set up a psychiatric clinic, and now epileptic patients in the coastal county can readily seek medical assistance.

In Nairobi, the campaign works with the Afya Research Africa (ARA). ARA runs a clinic monthly at Nairobi West, opposite PCEA, where patients can get services of an epileptologist.

You can grab your ticket to the event through Mpesa: Paybill number- 863763, and account number- your name. The ticket prices range from Sh1000 for the single regular, and Sh2000 for single VIP, to Sh10000 for group 6pax and Sh15000 for the 10 pax VIP.