In a remote village of Ajwa, Adilang subcounty, Northern Uganda, Grace was a devoted mother whose life revolved around caring for her 10-year-old son.
in 2019, her son began suffering from relentless seizures, leaving him unable to walk, speak, or feed himself.
Grace stopped attending community gatherings. Shame and exhaustion became her daily companions.
“Sometimes I just sit alone under the tree and cry,” she says. “I ask myself what wrong I did to make God punish me with a sick child.”
Every day was unpredictable. Seizures came without warning. Nights were sleepless. She had no access to treatment and no one to lean on. The more her son’s health declined, the more isolated she became.
One May afternoon in 2023, a neighbour who is a beneficiary of BasicNeeds UK in Uganda (BNUU) noticed Grace’s distress.
She told Grace about Adilang Health Centre III, where BNUU was offering free epilepsy medication and counselling.
“I didn’t even wait a day,” Grace recalls. “I went to the health facility immediately.”
At the health centre, a trained health worker started her son on medication. Grace met Dorah, a compassionate counselor, and for the first time shared her fears, guilt, and loneliness.
Through regular sessions, Dorah helped Grace understand the emotional toll of caregiving, identify signs of depression, and develop coping strategies. Gradually, Grace regained her strength and confidence.
“Seeing my son happy makes me a better person,” she says. “Thank you to Dorah for talking to me and visiting me at home it made all the difference.”
Her son began to improve he could now walk, speak, feed himself, and had even rejoined school.
“BNUU has changed my life by changing my son’s condition,” Grace says. “Now he wants to be a doctor to help children like him.”
Grace now smiles easily, sleeps peacefully, and joins community gatherings without shame.
“Seeing my son happy makes me a better person,” she says. “Thank you to Dorah for talking to me and visiting me at home it made all the difference.”
Grace’s story proves that access to mental health and epilepsy care doesn’t just heal it restores dignity, connection, and hope.
