About us
In 2018 , a group of educated, dynamic and epilepsy activists working in the development sector, got together to establish an organization for addressing the most urgent and pressing needs of people with epilepsy. True to this spirit, the organization was named epilepsy rights Foundation; later changes to Epilepsy Warriors Foundation.
Our Strategy
- Awareness & Education– Organize awareness sessions in schools, communities and cooperate companies
- Advocacy and Legal Aid– Engage duty bearers, host high level enagement meetings, identify, document and refer disability related cases to relevant authorities
- Capacity Building– Organize trainings, workshops with the aim of building capacity of individuals with epilepsy, caregivers while some trainings target our board, staff and volunteers
- Economic Empowerment– Address the economic hardships that individuals with epilepsy face as a result of stigma and discrimination
Programs
Advocacy, Awareness, Capacity building, Economic empowernment and Legal Aid and Education
Our programs are centered around persons with epilepsy, and their design was shaped by the contributions of young men and women with epilepsy to address the urgent and pressing needs of individuals with epilepsy
Advocacy
With Funding from the Disability Rights Fund we conducted an engagement meeting with the principal secretary for health in 2021, the purpose of the meeting was to advocate for the availability of anti-seizure medication in government and health facilities across the country. During the meeting position paper was submitted to government.
Awareness
We raise awareness about epilepsy in schools, churches, cooperate componies
Capacity Building
Resource mobilization training for EWF Staff and Volunteers facilitated by Professor Sharon Pittman in 2024 with funding from Southern Africa Litigation Centre (SALC)
Youth Group
Epilepsy youth group in Blantyre meeting at EWF Secretariat discussing issues affecting them in society and coming up with solutions on how to live positively with epilepsy
Peer Support Group
Bangwe Epilepsy support group meeting at Bangwe health centre in Blantyre. The support groups meets every Tuesday of the second week of every month to discuss issues affecting individuals with epilepsy in Bangwe, discuss advocacy strategies, offer encouragement to one another and discuss business ideas
EAMC Center – For Medical Personnel
An Epilepsy Assessment and Management Course (EAMC) Centre coordinated by EWF in Malawi and held at Blantyre District Health Office (D.H.O) in 2024 with participants from Blantyre D.H.O and Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital
Be Epilepsy Smart Program for Schools
Creating young and future advocates
We visit schools in both urban and rural areas of Blantyre to raise awareness about epilepsy. Currently, we have established two epilepsy clubs: one at Chitawira Primary School and another at Limbe Community Day Secondary School. Our goal for these clubs is to create an environment where young people and students feel empowered and unafraid of epilepsy, reject bullying both in and out of school, and advocate for their peers with epilepsy.
Join Our Youth Group
Contact us today and inquire for information on how you can be a youth group member
We have a youth group in Blantyre District where our organization is based, youth with epilepsy including our EWF team comprising of young men and women with some having epilepsy meet usually on Sundays with the foundations youth group to discuss issues that affect the youth with epilepsy, our team offers advice, solutions, inspiration and motivation. We believe that with lived experience that is one of the effectives ways we can utilize in order to reach out to the youth with epilepsy in Malawi.
What we do
Visits to Epilepsy Clinics
We visit the epilepsy clinic at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital with the aim of sensitizing persons with epilepsy, collecting startistics and identifying disability related cases
Awareness Raising
Considering the epilepsy knowledge gap in Malawi and the challenges learners with epilepsy face, our awareness program raises epilepsy awareness in schools, churches, cooperate componies and communites across Malawi
Identify, Document and refer disability related cases to relevant authorities
We identify, document and refer disability related cases to relevant authorities, currently we following up on a case with the inducstrial court in Malawi
Formation of peer support groups
Currently we have one peer support group in Bangwe. The group meets every month and we sometimes visit the support group to share epilepsy related information
A Glimpse of What We Do
Our team
Samuel Chigamba
Executive director
Maria Mzeza
YOUTH COORDINATOR
Thandiwe Mkandawire
Accountant
Mirriam Ngwalangwa
WELL-BEING MANAGER
Project MANAGER
Our Partners and Supporters
Testimonials
A disability advocate and individual with epilepsy, passionate about enhancing the living conditions of people affected by epilepsy.
SAMUEL CHIGAMBA
MARIA MZEZA
An accountant and a fashion designer
THANDIWE MKANDAWIRE
MIRRIAM NGWALANGWA
Contact us
+265 881 11 5924
email: epilepsywarriors82@gmail.com