Grégoire Ahongbonon was a tire mechanic who started taking an interest in people with mental disorders after the experience of a pilgrimage to Jerusalem back in 1982. During a sermon on this occasion he was struck by a priest asking: “what stone are you carrying to build Christ’s Church?”
This question, addressed to a sensitive soul made even more aware by a severe existential crisis, literally changed his life. Back to Bouake in Ivory Coast, as he was driving along the road, Gregoire noticed a man completely naked wandering about looking for food. He went up to this person and realized that he was mentally challenged and had, because of his condition, been cast out from society.
This was the spark that ignited his interest in people with mental disorders and motivated him to dedicate his energies and resources to relieve their sufferings through the establishment in 1983 of the St. Camille de Lellis Association.