WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE DO

We are Africa Against Stroke, a charity whose aim it is to support African families whose members have suffered from strokes. The annual incidence of strokes in Africa is 316 per 100,000 individuals, which is the highest rate in the world. This is particularly high in Western Africa, which is where it came to affect us.

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We have an extended family member living in our homeland of Côte d'Ivoire who has unfortunately been hit by a stroke. This woman was the pillar of her family; she would provide for her sons by working all day long in markets. She would then have to come home late in the afternoon and look after her family by cooking and cleaning and doing general chores around the house. And all this while she was 8 months pregnant. This woman had a stroke aged 36, which left her paralysed leaving her family in a financial distress. She gave birth to a baby girl whom she never recognised as her mother. The conditions in a lot of African states aren't as favourable as in the west; this woman received very little aid from the government and other associations and her family wasn't financially stable enough to look after her. Her children had to stop going to school as the little funds they had were prioritised to the care of the mother. This is where we first appear, looking after our loved-one in need by providing medicines and financial aid.

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Our family member had special dietary  requirements which she had to follow in order to keep in good health, medical equipment had to be bought and became part of her everyday life, so did massages and chemotherapy. None of this would have been possible if she didn't have the support of a loving organisation behind her.

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This woman died aged 43 having spent the last 7 years of her life on a hospital bed in her living room. Had it not been for the help that we gave her through medication and financial support, this story would have been even more bleak. 

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Our aim is to come to the aid of as many people in this situation as possible.