Safer Health program assists the most vulnerable as many children and women lack effective health facilities. Many parents and children die unnecessarily from common illnesses that can be cured, such as Malaria, Typhoid, and malnutrition. Therefore, we instituted this initiative through local partners and volunteers; doctors and nurses who love to give back to society. We provide free medical checkups, medications, community health education, hygiene products, and intervention and prevention methods. In some cases, we solicit support to provide surgical assistance to children whose lives are in critical condition, especially those whose parents or community cannot afford their surgical bills. Hawanatu Kamara and Richmond Moses Koroma have benefited from these programs.
Child Surgical Support – The journey with Hawanatu Koroma
As part of MYCRO Health Network, we are pleased to be able to come alongside Hawanatu, showing her love and support. During our sustainable project, called the Livelihood Program, the MYCRO team met Hawanatu. She was living in a dorm, abandoned and rejected by her parents and community members. They claimed she was a witch and that she was responsible for the death of many of their family members. From our findings, Hawanatu was born with sight but later contracted River Blindness. Hawanatu’s parents had used local herbs to try to cure her, but her eyes got worse and they had to take her to the government hospital. After days in the hospital, doctors confirmed that her eyes were damaged and she was going blind. From these misfortunes, her community and parents rejected her, based on their cultural beliefs that this was caused by an evil spirit. MYCRO received permission from the parents and community and took Hawanatu to Freetown, where she went through eye surgery by Sight Safer International to remove her eye. She later received an educational sponsorship from MYCRO Sierra Leone and enrolled in the Milton Margai School for the Blind in Freetown. Currently, Hawanatu has been promoted to senior secondary school level (SSS 2 Art) and MYCRO still supports her with love, care, and financial resources to let her know that her life is valued. Hawanatu’s dream is to acquire an education and then return home to educate the less privileged in her village.
We were able to help Hawanatu but there are many children in these serving communities with similar life-threatening challenges. Currently, we have 7 identified children who need urgent medical assistance and we are raising funds and looking for partnership and support to meet this demand.
Child Surgical Support – The Journey with Richmond Koroma
As part of our organization’s mandate, we work to support children whose lives face life-threatening challenges. In Waterloo Town, Western Area Rural District, we came across a widow, Madam Margaret Vandi, who presented us a story about Richmond. She went to a village called Rubbi, in the Moyamba district to visit a friend. While she was in this village, she decided to walk by the river. While on her walk, she heard a faint, weak voice of a child in the bush. She stopped and carefully traced the voice, and to her surprise, found Richmond, wrapped and left under a tree in the bush to die. Richmond was almost dead when Margaret picked him up. When she looked him over carefully, she noticed he had been born with a cleft palate. She had great sympathy and decided to take the child to the village while comforting him on the way. She was quickly rejected and warned not to bring the child into the village because they said the child was a devil. Meeting with Richmond’s parents, they also reaffirmed that the child was a devil; they didn’t want him. This is common practice in some villages in Sierra Leone. Madam Margaret then told them, she would take the child home with her to care for him. She refused to let him die, so she immediately started feeding him with what little money she had. On the day we met with Margaret and Richmond, he was extremely sick and malnourished, and Margaret was filled with desperation. She was struggling to survive herself, and now she was trying to care for a sick child as well. Richmond needed surgery immediately because he was unable to eat well with his mouth condition, but being a widow, Margaret didn’t have the resources to provide the enormous amount of care that he needed. This caring woman wanted so badly to give this child the life that he deserved. She had been praying for help and we at MYCRO had to do something. As an organization, we shared this journey with our friends and partners. They joined in our fight for Richmond and fully sponsored his doctor’s appointments, surgeries, and supported our efforts for his wellbeing. After taking him to the doctor, Margaret was told that Richmond needed to gain weight before he would perform the surgery. His tiny, sickly body wasn’t able to handle any surgeries until he was nourished. MYCRO paid for the doctor’s bills and also food for Madam Margaret and Richmond each week. Sadly, Margaret got sick and died, but we had everything in place to fully take responsibility for Richmond. A team member took Richmond in as his son, and his medication, surgery, and upkeep became MYCRO’s responsibility.
Richmond has since undergone mouth surgery and has recovered. He has started schooling and he growing well. From being malnourished, sick, and near death, Richmond is now a voice back in the community that once said he was a curse. Richmond’s family has seen his transformation and wept for those children before him that they had left for dead. His testimony speaks boldly that our children born with disease are not demons. Our small acts of kindness may seem insignificant, but they are the key to bringing hope and truth into our communities. We express our thanks and appreciation to our partners for all their prayers, financial support, and encouragement.