My name is Seanastef Success Kwah, a 22-year-old
girl born and raised in Buea, South west region of Cameroon. I am from a family
of 4 with two beautiful sisters and a cool dude brother. At the age of 17 I
moved to England. I studied medical science in West Thames College, London.
Currently I am a dental nursing student at the University of Portsmouth. I was
born with sickle cell anaemia, a hereditary blood disorder which affects the
joints, bones and organs of the body. It is an invisible disability which is
mostly neglected and unrecognised in most developing countries. At the age of 1
year 9 months I suffered a partial stroke on the left side of my body due to
complications related to sickle cell but due to ignorance about the disease, my
genotype was only discovered when I suffered a severe case of pneumonia at age
3 and I struggled with medical care through out my stay in Cameroon and
experiences like this prompted me to become a philanthropist and a sickle cell
Advocate.
I
started my journey as a philanthropist and an advocate for the girl child and
sickle cell in December 2013 when I joined the Girl Guiding Organisation which
I am currently a Young Leader and unit helper. The focus of this organisation
is aimed at empowering young girls through lessons in cooking, art and craft
and cultural diversity.
In 2015, I became an active advocate for
sickle cell warriors especially for those in Cameroon as it was easier for me
to relate to the difficulties sickle cell warriors face in a developing country
like Cameroon. I started by educating warriors about self-care techniques,
creating awareness through social media and gradually grow into providing
moral, emotional and financial support to warriors in need.
I have had the privilege of working with a
few foundations and health programs such as Bright star sickle cell foundation
and many others.
Many good things are cooking up now in my
career as a philanthropist. I am co writing a book about living with Sickle
cell disease, working with the PinoRich Foundation for children in need. I
aspire to launch the Seanastef Sickle Cell Foundation in the early future as
well as start an awareness program on one of the local radio stations in
Cameroon.
What inspired me? I get my inspiration from
myself. There are days where I go through excruciating unexplainable pains and
think I could close my eyes and never open again but yet I pull through every
episode of these crisis. With this experience, I strive to make life living
with sickle cell a lot easier through my self-care techniques.
My role model is every sickle cell warrior
out there.
Message to the public…….” You are more than
your scars so never let your scars define you”.
