Valentine’s day with Epilepsy in mind
OUT! DEVIL GET OUT! Is what I woke up to when I regained my consciousness? This is not the first time I am experiencing it. I am told that I have demons in me that make me jerk and lose consciousness. Prayer is not the only intervention that I have attempted.
Just last week we went to a witchdoctor. It was in an old hut somewhere in a thick bush. We had to walk so far. He has white paintings in his face and he speaks in a language that I do not understand. He says that I have been bewitched by our neighbour and for him to destroy those powers we need to get him a black goat. Mum has been struggling on her own as dad has not been supportive and looks like we may not afford to destroy the power.
Dad left us. They started having problems with mother since I started falling and jerking. He says that my mother’s family was bewitched. That he did not want me because I was a product of the curse. He had been warned about it earlier but he went ahead to marry a woman who would bring shame and curses to his lineage. I have been feeling low. I hate myself for being the cause of my parents’ separation. I wish I could get away from this condition so that they can be together again. Every time I get the attack in school people run away from me. No one wants to be my friend. They all fear that they too will get the condition.
Some youth came to our church and told us about the condition. We went to the clinic and I learned that the condition I have is not a curse. That there is no demon residing in me. This discovery is huge for me. I have been hating myself for so long due to this story they told me about me.
I learned that St Valentine was the patron of epilepsy. He too had the condition and extended love to those living with the condition. On this Valentine’s Day I wish that you may extend love to those living with epilepsy by understanding them and not stigmatizing them in the community. I may never have my parents together, but I wish that those with epilepsy learn to love and accept themselves with the condition.
Happy Valentine’s day filled with love!
