Grégoire Ahongbonon (born 1953) founded the St Camille Association in 1994 to provide residential care for people in West Africa suffering from mental illness.[1]
Biography edit
Ahongbonon was born in Benin and immigrated to Côte d'Ivoire.[2]
Ahongbonon was formerly a mechanic.[3]
He was inspired to start the association following experiencing depression himself, which led him to consider suicide.[4] He is quoted as saying "As long as there is one man in chains, it is humanity who is chained."
Ahongbonon won the Daily Trust African of the Year 2015, which included a $50,000 prize.[5][6]
In 2020 he won the Dr. Guislain Award, attributed by the Guislain Institute (Brothers of Charity) and Johnson & Johnson - dr. Janssen. [7]
Literature edit
- Adjovi, Laeila, Gregoire Ahongbonon: Freeing people chained for being ill, (BBC, 17 February 2016),
- Nigeria: I've Treated 60,000 Mentally-Ill - Ahongbonon - allAfrica.com, in: allafrica.com, 2016.
- Grégoire Ahongbonon wins the 2020 Dr. Guislain Award 2020, in: Deus Caritas Est, december 2020.
References edit
- ^ "Grégoire Ahongbonon: "Si no tienes dinero, nadie te cura en África"". El Debate de Hoy (in Spanish). Retrieved 2019-09-24.
- ^ "Humble beginnings: Grégoire Ahongbonon and the St Camille Association". WHO. 2005. Archived from the original on July 29, 2009. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
- ^ Adjovi, Laeila (17 February 2016). "Gregoire Ahongbonon: Freeing people chained for being ill". BBC. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
- ^ "The Chains of Mental Illness in West Africa | The New York Times".
- ^ "Nigeria: I've Treated 60,000 Mentally-Ill - Ahongbonon - allAfrica.com". allafrica.com. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
- ^ "Gregoire Ahongbonon of Benin wins African of the year award 2015". ghananewsagency.org. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
- ^ Grégoire Ahongbonon wins the 2020 Dr. Guislain Award, in:Deus Caritas est, december 2020.