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The Global VillageThe Global Village Musu’s Story Musu’s StoryAs told to Dr. Melody Curtissand Natalie Turner byYasmine Vaughan, MPH(c) 2025 Helping Children Worldwide. Inc. Message

Musu was in Junior SecondarySchool 3 in Bo, Sierra Leone - whatwe call middle school 8 grade inthe United States of America. thShe was usually a good student.But, during Junior Secondary 3,Musu was struggling in school. She didn’t feel well and couldn’tconcentrate on her studies. She washaving shortness of breath and feltweak and sleepy all the time. Musu’s story is a Child’sView Optimistic VoicesPodcast Story Book

I’m so tired. I can’t breathe.I can’t think.

Musu’s family wasstrong, but theywere poor. Musu’s motherTiangay was smart,like her daughter.She was gettinghelp to make theirlife better through afamilystrengtheningprogram. One type of helpwas free medicaltreatment at MercyUMC Hospital.

Musu’s mother loved her very much!She knew her childneeded help. She tookMusu to MercyHospital.

The EKG machineMercy Hospital had a new EKG machine.It was a gift from their collaborativemission allies, Helping ChildrenWorldwide, the Medical University ofSouth Carolina, and Bethel UMC, achurch in Charleston. A medical team fromCharleston traveledto Bo to teach themedical team atMercy how to use thenew equipment whileMusu was there.

The doctors cared about Musu.They were all really troubled bywhat they found on her EKG . They referred her to a hospital inthe capital city of Freetown for adifferent kind of test.

Take a deepbreath, Musu.Musu enduredmonths of testingand monitoring.Her family's casemanager, Abdulai,checked in on her alot during thistime, sharing newswith the allies.

What is going tohappen to me? Musu and her motherrode the 4 hours toFreetown many timesthat summer, often onthe bus. Musa had to seespecial doctors. Finally,the doctors figured outwhat was wrong. Theysaid that Musu neededexpensive heartsurgery. Then they told them theworst news of all. Musucould not get thesurgery in Sierra Leone.The surgeons were all inother countries.

The allies worried about Musu evenafter returning to their own homes. They continued to check in with DrStevens while Musu was gettingtested.The staff of the Child ReintegrationCentre, where Musu’s family wasgetting help, continued to providesupport. Her case manager, Abdulai,made sure that she was taken to thehospital when her symptoms wereworsening and helped her get toFreetown. Abdulai’s boss, Reverend Olivia,would come to Musu’s bedside to praywith her. Musu’s family had strongfaith. They were grateful for prayers.Meanwhile, a conversation washappening across the ocean, andaround the globe. The HCW Togetherfor Global Health Network wasconsidering what more could be done. God is in control.God will care for me,no matter whathappens next.

Her case management teamtried a few different waysto seek treatment for heroutside of Sierra Leone, butthey were unsuccessful andso turned to their allies atHelping ChildrenWorldwide. That is when theglobal villagecame to Musu’srescue.

Together forGlobal Health A Global Village Network

Helping Children Worldwideactivated the members ofTogether for Global Health toseek assistance.Together for Global Healthmembers at the HealeyInternational Foundationconnected with the Sick PikinFoundation, founded by theirSierra Leone in-countrydirector.

Ishmael Alfred Charles’s Sick Pikin* Foundation workswith Sierra Leone children toget them surgery that theyneed, that they can't get inSierra Leone. Pikin is the Krio word for children.Krio is a common languagespoken in Sierra Leone and in partof the Southern United States.

Charles has connections to anorganization in India run by adoctor named Dr Suden. Charles worked with Dr. Sudenand together they identified asurgeon in India who would dothe surgery.

TGH MedicalAssistance FundHelping Children Worldwidelaunched a new campaign to helpchildren in poverty imperiled bycatastrophic illness.The TGH Medical Assistance Fund. Musu was the first recipient ofgrants from the fund.

HCW coordinated payments for alltravel arrangements. Support from allies in SouthCarolina helped fund her surgery,while additional funding came fromthe First United Methodist Church ofColleyville in Texas.

Musu and her mother requiredvisas, transportation, food,passports, and medical clearancefor their journey. The missiondeployment team at HelpingChildren Worldwide managed thetravel logistics for their flight toIndia. Meanwhile, Charles and theChild Reintegration Center staffcompleted all the necessarypaperwork to ensure everythingwas ready for her. They secured herpassports, visas, and travel fundsneeded during their transit.

Dr. Stevens and the team at Mercydid all the necessary checkups tomake sure that she had medicalclearance for travel. Musu and Tiangay departedFreetown for India on March 26 - nine monthsafter she went to Mercy for help.th

People who treat other peoplelike their own neighbors andfamily even though they live farway are called that person’s“global village.” Did you knowthat the bible teaches that Godwants us to be a global village?Luke 10:25Matthew 25:40Leviticus 19:341.Who was Musu’s global village? 2.Are you part of a global village?3.Will you ever need a global village? 4.Who might be in your global village?

Hooray for theGlobal Village!

Whathappened inIndia?This was the first time Musu and her mother had been on aplane, and this was a very long flight. They flew fromFreetown to Cote d'Ivoire, from Cote d'Ivoire to Ghana,from Ghana to Dubai and then finally to New Delhi, India. Ittook them many days, and nights sleeping on airport floors. Once they arrived in New Delhi, the doctor in charge ofMusu’s case remained with them the whole time. The doctor knew many people had come together for Musu,so she regularly sent updates to Charles from the surgeonand medical team in India. Charles passed them on to all ofthe allies, who prayed for her and kept up with herprogress. The Rest of the Story

A lot ofpatience andprayer.On March 29th 2024 the exam results from thesurgical specialist showed the allies that they hadcome together just in the nick of time.Musu's heart function was at 20% out of 100%. She needed an aortic valve replacement. Thesurgery was high risk, with a 40% chance ofsurvival and the likelihood of a lengthy stay inthe hospital intensive care unit.That would mean that she and her mother wouldbe away from the rest of their family for a longtime and the funds that had been raised mightrun out. All the allies could do at that time waspray and hope.

Stronger, andstronger everyday.Prayers of the global village that surrounded Musuwere answered with a glorious “Yes!” Musu was released from ICU. By God's grace shemade a speedy recovery. She went home on May 1 ,eleven months after her EKG at Mercy.st She will take a special medicine for the rest of her lifeand need continued checkups to make sure that herheart is continuing to function. Musu went home to live in Sierra Leone with hermother, Tiangay, her older brother Musa, and heryounger sisters Nata and Aminata. Her family is growing stronger and so is Musu!

CRC family supportdoesn’t end with solvingone emergency.Musu and her siblings had a little bit of trouble in school after herlong ordeal, so in May of last year they attended extra classesorganized by the education manager at CRC and because of thetutoring Musu passed her basic education exam and waspromoted to Senior Secondary School at the Queen of the RosarySchool in Bo, Sierra Leone. Her sister was likewise prepared to sitfor the exam for the following year.In July, Tiangay finished her micro-finance course through theCRC and received a CRC Strongly Rooted Family micro- financeloan to begin a family enterprise raising animals. Musu was strong enough that she and her sister were in the Birthof Jesus Christ play that CRC does every year at their Christmasparty. Musu played the role of Mary and her sister acted as thenarrator to the play and, according to their case managerAbdulai, both of them did really well in those roles.

If this story is tugging at yourheart, we invite you to join us,step into the story and be a partof the solution.Just as there were a dozenorganizations and individuals whocame together to make this miraclehappen for Musu, there are over 30organizations in the Together forGlobal Health network, and many ofthem have stories of children who arestruggling and in need of medicalassistance, and that's why weestablished this fund in the first place,for those extraordinary cases thatcannot be managed without an entirevillage coming together.

Dr. Aruna Stevens is the Senior Medical Officer and surgeonappointed to Mercy Hospital. Currently he is on leave doinghis global health master's at Tulane University, but he willreturn to join the new surgeon at Mercy. Dr. Stevens was thechief medical officer over Mercy Hospital overseeing Musu’scare. Dr. Stevens is particularly invested in children likeMusu because he grew up in the Child Reintegration Centre.He lived there when the CRC was a residential care facility inaddition to providing support to children living in thecommunity with their families. CRC is now exclusively a facility that provides programs forstrengthening families and family-based care services inSierra Leone. CRC’s team of social workers and casemanagers work with families who are vulnerable to povertyto ensure that they are not separated.CRC’s transition coaching and mentoring division helps otherorphanages make that transition to family-based care. Mercy & CRC

At Helping Children Worldwide we are always talkingabout the need for family empowerment advocates.These are the people who give just a tiny bit each monthso that case managers like Abdulai can work withfamilies in Sierra Leone and get them into the socialsafety nets that they need when their lives arethreatened. Musu's life would not have been saved butfor the existence of case managers, and case managerswould not exist if not for family advocates. We also need individuals and organizations who areinterested in taking that next step and investing in amajor way for a specific child whose life is beingthreatened in an extraordinary way. The TGH medicalassistance fund can only continue to exist if donors arewilling to step up and support extraordinary needs. You can be a part of the global village that comestogether for the next child like Musu. www.helpingchildrenworldwide.org