Fredrick Beuchi is a young Epilepsy Activist and the National Secretary for the National Coordination Committee, from Mombasa, Kenya. Fred got involved with Epilepsy work when his sister was diagnose with epilepsy and he had to quit his job to take care of her. Ever since then he has been working hard to raise awareness about epilepsy, taking on challenges that will help bring attention to epilepsy issues.

Fred is not new to Epilepsy Awareness Challenges as, in 2018 he embarked on an Epilepsy Awareness Expedition, where he walked from Nairobi to Mombasa covering 482 km in 12 days. This year again Fred did the unimaginable, as he took the stakes higher with the #beuchimtkilimanjarochallenge.

As part of the #beuchimtkilimanjarochallenge, Fred and his team first cycled from Nairobi (Kenya) to Arusha (Tanzania). After reaching Tanzania they then began the long climb to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro where they planted the Epilepsy flag with the message “Epilepsy is Manageable’ .

When speaking to our communications team, Fred stated that there were three instances where he felt he was not going to finish the journey but was motivated by the message he was pushing and the thought of his sister and other children living with epilepsy across the continent.

“There were three times where i thought i was going to die. So i told our guide that if i happen to fall along the way, they should continue with the journey to the top, plant the flag, take pictures and let the world know we made it, they will see me after that”, Fred.

According to Fred, the objectives of this challenge are :

  1. To rally local, Regional and International Media into supporting Epilepsy Awareness in Africa.
  2. To  raise funds for the translation of Epilepsy Awareness  teaching materials into Africa local languages.
  3. To synergize Epilepsy care stakeholders in developing user friendly awareness messages for Africa.
  4. To advocate for the rights of Persons Living with Epilepsy.
  5. To support children living with epilepsy to access medication.

We are proud of Fred and the team’s achievement, they have indeed raised Epilepsy Awareness across Africa and beyond. On behalf of the 10 million Africans living with epilepsy we thank them for the courage they had to see this challenge through.