The Global Village Unites for a Child: Musu's Story

Send us a text

Sixteen-year-old Musu Sangu faced a devastating diagnosis in Sierra Leone—a life-threatening heart condition requiring specialized surgery unavailable anywhere in her country. With her heart functioning at just 20% capacity and given only a 40% chance of survival, Musu's future looked grim. But what followed was an extraordinary demonstration of global compassion that would save her life.

The journey began at Mercy Hospital in Sierra Leone, where Dr. Aruna Stevens identified Musu's condition using a newly acquired EKG machine. Through the Child Reintegration Center's family strengthening program, Musu already had access to medical care and a dedicated case manager who advocated tirelessly for her. When it became clear that she needed surgery unavailable in Sierra Leone, an incredible network of support mobilized across three continents.

Gary and Mary Ann Gilkyson, who had met Musu during a mission trip, rallied their church in South Carolina to raise funds. The Sick Pickin Foundation connected her with surgical care in India. Staff members at multiple organizations coordinated passports, visas, medical clearance, and financial support. After a grueling journey from Freetown through multiple countries, Musu arrived in New Delhi where surgeons performed her high-risk aortic valve replacement.

Against tremendous odds, Musu made a remarkable recovery. Within a month, she returned home to her family in Sierra Leone. Today, she's back in school, even playing Mary in the CRC Christmas play, while her mother builds stability through a microfinance program.

This powerful story reminds us that when compassion knows no borders, extraordinary things happen. People who had never met Musu—and many who never will—worked together to give her a future. Consider joining this village of support through the Emergency Medical Health Fund, established to help more children like Musu access life-saving care when local resources aren't enough. Your contribution could be part of the next miracle.

________

Travel on International Mission, meet local leadership and work alongside them. Exchange knowledge, learn from one another and be open to personal transformation. Step into a 25 year long story of change for children in some of the poorest regions on Earth.

https://www.helpingchildrenworldwide.org/mission-trips.html

******

_____

A bible study for groups and individuals, One Twenty-Seven: The Widow and the Orphan by Dr Andrea Siegel explores the themes of the first chapter of James, and in particular, 1:27. In James, we learn of our duty to the vulnerable in the historical context of the author. Order here or digital download

Shout out to our newest sponsor: The Resilience Institute

Support the show

Helpingchildrenworldwide.org

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:09):
Through the eyes of children.
I'm Natalie Turner, and this ismy co-host, melody Curtis.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
Welcome to the show, everybody.
Today, natalie and I will betalking with our guest about a
child who faced tough challengeslife-threatening challenges,
actually and the amazing peoplewho helped her.
Today's story is especiallyinspiring.
And extraordinary.
It takes a village moment.
Musu was 16 when she wasdiagnosed at Mercy UMC Charity

(00:38):
Hospital in Sierra Leone, westAfrica, with a life-threatening
heart condition.
Musu's condition required asurgical specialist that was not
available at any hospital inthe entire country of Sierra
Leone.
Her family could not afford itand without it she would die.
But that didn't happen becausepeople were determined to save

(01:02):
her life.
Let's welcome today's guest,yasmin Vaughn.

Speaker 3 (01:07):
Thanks for having me again.
Always good to be back.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
Yeah, for those of you who don't know much about
helping children worldwide,yasmin and I work together and
she's one of the regular episodehosts for Optimistic Voices.
I'm very excited about thisepisode.
Actually, natalie, what do youthink I can't wait to about this
episode?
Actually, natalie, what do youthink I?

Speaker 1 (01:24):
can't wait to hear this story of hope For the
people who may be listening tothe Optimistic Voices podcast
for the first time.
Tell us a little bit aboutyourself and your connection to
Moosoo.

Speaker 3 (01:37):
Sure thing.
So I'm Yasmin Vaughn.
I'm the technical advisor forglobal health and missions at
Helping Children Worldwide.
I do a lot of our episodes onglobal health and ethical
missions because those are theareas of my job that I do most
of my work in, and Moose's storyintersects really well with
those areas.
I work closely with MercyHospital.
I also facilitate the travel ofour mission teams to Sierra

(02:00):
Leone and I also run ourTogether for Global Health
Network, and one of our networkmembers was a big help in this
project, one of the helperswe'll talk about.

Speaker 2 (02:10):
Yas, can you give us a little background on this
story, tell us a little bitabout Musu and her history?

Speaker 3 (02:17):
So Musu Sangu is a 16-year-old girl who was in
junior secondary school three,which is eighth grade here in
the US.
Her family, the Sangu orsometimes called the Dapo family
, is in the CRC's program, sothey receive family
strengthening support from theCRC, they have ongoing case
management that happens withthem and they receive medical

(02:38):
support at Mercy Hospital.
So in July of 2023, musu hadbeen having recurring
respiratory infections.
She was really easily tired,she was having shortness of
breath, which are all thingsthat are really uncommon in a
16-year-old girl.
She had been seen multipletimes at Mercy Hospital for
infections respiratoryinfections but they knew that

(02:59):
something more was going on.

Speaker 1 (03:01):
Did they ever figure out what was going on with Musu?

Speaker 3 (03:03):
They did, yeah, more was going on.
Did they ever figure out whatwas going on with Musu?
They did, yeah.
So Mercy Hospital got a new EKGmachine in July 2023, thanks to
our collaboration with theMedical University of South
Carolina.
So while our July medical teamwas on the ground, Musu was seen
by Dr Stevens and the team andthey were really troubled by
what they found on her EKG andthey referred her to a hospital
in Freetown for anechocardiogram because there

(03:24):
wasn't anywhere in the city ofBow where you could get it.
Her family's case manager,Abdullahi, checked in on her a
lot during this time and therewas a few more months of testing
and monitoring.
She had to go see anotherspecialist in Freetown and
eventually it was determinedthat she would need heart
surgery and this was not asurgery that she could get in
Sierra Leone.

Speaker 2 (03:45):
Before we go on, I'm wondering if you could explain a
little bit about the peoplethat you just introduced in this
story.
Dr Aruna Stevens is he part ofthe HCW medical team, and what
exactly is the CRC?

Speaker 3 (04:03):
Yeah, so Dr Aruna Stevens is the doctor at Mercy
Hospital.
Currently he is on leave doinghis master's at Tulane
University, but at this time, hewas the chief medical officer
over Mercy Hospital and he grewup in the Child Reintegration
Center, which is a facility forfamily-based care in Sierra

(04:26):
Leone.
It was an orphanage and wasconverted in 2016 to care for
children and families, so theyhave a team of social workers
and case managers who work withfamilies who are vulnerable to
poverty to ensure that they arenot separated, and they also
help other orphanages make thattransition to family-based care.

Speaker 1 (04:48):
With this long period of uncertainty, it must have
been really difficult for thefamily.

Speaker 2 (04:53):
Exactly, natalie.
This was a family who wasalready fragile.
I think, though, this isexactly where all those other
people come into the story.
Is that right, yasmin?
This is really the point wherethe story starts to turn around.
Who are the people ororganizations that stepped in,
and what did they do to help?

Speaker 3 (05:14):
Yeah.
So the July team members werepretty much the greatest
champions of Moosoo GaryGilkyson and his wife Mary Ann
Gilkyson, who travel every Julywith us, continue to check in
with Dr Stevens during thisprocess of her getting her
diagnosis.
Her case manager, abdullahi, ofcourse, checked with her
throughout the process.

(05:34):
She made sure that she wastaken to the hospital when her
symptoms were worsening and evenduring this time Reverend
Olivia, who's the director ofthe CRC, would pray with her,
and at one point Musu sharedthat she believes that God was
in control, no matter whathappened next.
So the CRC tried a fewdifferent ways to seek treatment

(05:55):
for her outside of Sierra Leone, but through our Together for
Global Health relationshipswe've become connected with an
organization called the SickPickin Foundation.
Pickin is the Creole word forchild, so the Sick Child
Foundation, basically, and theywork with Sierra Leone children
to get them surgery that theyneed, that they can't get in
Sierra Leone.

(06:15):
So Ishmael Alfred Charles he'salso the country director for
the Healy International ReliefFoundation is the founder of
this foundation and he hasconnections to an organization
in India run by a doctor namedDr Sudin.
So he worked with her and theyidentified a surgeon in India

(06:36):
who would do her surgery.
So then, once we kind of knewthat she could get the surgery
and where she could go, we beganthe process of fundraising and
making all of the travelarrangements.
The Gilkessons and their church, bethel United Methodist Church
in Charleston, south Carolina,raised so much money to support
her surgery, and funding wasalso provided by the First

(06:57):
United Methodist Church ofColleyville in Texas.
Lusso and her mother needed allthe things that we typically do
for people who travel to SierraLeone.
They needed visas, they neededtransportation, food, passports,
medical clearance on top ofthat.
So Linda Reinhardt in ouroffice facilitated the travel
arrangements for her to fly toIndia, and then Charles and the

(07:20):
Child Reintegration Center staffdid all the paperwork
in-country to make sure that shehad her.
They had her passports andvisas and travel money, of
course, because they would needmoney while they were in transit
.
Dr Stevens did all thenecessary checkups to make sure
that she had medical clearancefor travel.
And then, finally, all thosepeople coming together, it made

(07:41):
it possible for Musu and hermother, tiange, to depart
Freetown on March 26th, whichmeans that we are recording this
at the one-year anniversary ofall of this happening, which is
so exciting to me During thiswhole process.
I was most nervous, I would sayat this point, about them flying
.
This was the first time Musuand her mother would be

(08:02):
traveling internationally.
Musu, of course, was sick, sothere were all sorts of concerns
about her travel.
And then, on top of that, theyhad a really long journey that
they had to fly.
So they flew from Freetown toCote d'Ivoire, from Cote
d'Ivoire to Ghana, from Ghana toDubai and then finally to New
Delhi, india.
So like many, many layovers andmany, many journeys over just a

(08:25):
couple of days.
But once they arrived in NewDelhi, I knew they were in good
hands because Dr Sudden was withthem the whole time.
She regularly sent updates toCharles, who passed them on to
us, and we were able to keep upwith her progress.

Speaker 1 (08:40):
What an incredible group of supporters, a community
, coming together, and what ajourney Was she able to get that
surgery in India.

Speaker 3 (08:50):
Yes, she did get the surgery, but it was not without
its challenges.
So on March 29th 2024, we gotthe exam results from her
surgeon, Dr Degar.
So Musu's heart function atthat time was at 20% out of 100,
20% and she was definitelygoing to need an aortic valve
replacement.

(09:11):
The surgery was consideredextremely high risk and we were
quoted about a 40 percent chanceof survival.
There was also a possibilitythat if she did survive, that
she was going to need a reallylong stay in the ICU, which
would mean that her and hermother would be away from the
rest of their family for a longtime.
So I was super worried abouther and her mother, Tiange.

(09:33):
But she really had so manypeople praying for her because
all we could do at that time waspray and hope.

Speaker 1 (09:41):
Yeah, that sounds like a very scary and difficult
time for Musu and her family.

Speaker 2 (09:47):
I'm cheating by asking this question because I
actually know the answer.
This child is better now, right?

Speaker 3 (09:56):
Yeah, so she was in the hospital for about a month
but by God's grace she made aspeedy recovery.
She was put on a medicationthat she needed to take for the
rest of her life and of courseshe would need continued
checkups to make sure that herheart was continuing to function
.
Uh, but she went home on May1st Um, so about a month later.
Where is Musu now?

(10:16):
So Musu is home now in SierraLeone with her mother, tiange Uh
.
She has an older brother namedMusa Musu, and Musa uh and her
younger sisters are youngersisters are Nata and Aminata.
Musu continues to go to school.
She's a little bit of troublein school, so in May of last
year her and her sister attendedsome extra classes organized by

(10:39):
the education manager at CRCand because of the tutoring she
passed her basic education examand it promoted to senior
secondary school at the Queen ofthe Rosary School in
Beau-Cyr-Leon.
Her sister is about to sit forthat exam coming up soon.
Also, last year in July hermother received a microfinance

(11:00):
loan to raise animals, and myfavorite thing that I know about
Musu is that her and her sisterwere in the Birth of Jesus
Christ play that CRC does everyyear at their Christmas party,
and Musu played the role of Maryand her sister acted as the
narrator to the play and,according to their case manager

(11:20):
Abdoulaye, both of them didreally well in those roles.

Speaker 2 (11:25):
What an amazing story of hope for this family and
really all the connectionsbetween Mercy UMC Hospital and
the Child Reintegration Centerand the fact that you know so
much about this family justspeaks volumes about how
involved everyone became and indedication to saving this young

(11:48):
woman's life.
Yeah absolutely so.
Before we wrap up, I wanted toask our guest and my co-host
what's one note of optimismyou'd like our listeners to take
away from this story, startingwith you, Yas.

Speaker 3 (12:07):
Oh my gosh, yeah.
So I just I want to celebrateall the people who made a
difference in her story.
Her family, of course, wassuper supportive throughout the
entire process.
We posted updates to ourFacebook and her brother, musa,
commented, I think, on everysingle update to let us know
that he was checking in on theprogress with his sister.

(12:27):
But she also had this hugenetwork of people that were
rooting for her.
I mean I mentioned theGilkessons, but also the Sangu
Family Empowerment Advocates whoprovide support to her family.
I mean we're so thankful forpeople like that, because if
they had not been enrolled inthe CRC program and were not
receiving free medical treatmentat Mercy Hospital, it's

(12:50):
unlikely that her conditionwould have been diagnosed.
So it's just incredible that wewere able to be there at the
right time and, again, just somany people helped with getting
her treatment the staff at theChild Reintegration Center,
ishmael Charles and the SickPickin Foundation, dr Sudden and
then the whole HCW team.

(13:10):
Every single one of us played arole in helping her get her
treatment.
And then there's so many peoplethat I don't even know at
Bethel UMC and Colleyville UMCwho donated, who prayed for her,
who checked in on her progress,who got their partner church
representatives to check in withme, her progress, who got their

(13:30):
partner church representativesto check in with me.
So I guess I would say I'moptimistic because there are so
many people out there who workedreally hard to help this
16-year-old girl have a future.
Most of them have never met her, many of them never will, but
they were moved with compassionto care for her and that's what
keeps me optimistic about thework that we do.

Speaker 1 (13:47):
Building off of what Yasmin said, my note of optimism
from Musu's story is that Iwant to be in a world where
people like those around Musushow immense kindness and care
for those that they know, aswell as those that they may
never meet or may never have aclose relationship with or may
never have a close relationshipwith.

(14:07):
Musu was able to have a futureand flourish after receiving the
operation because of this greatcare, and I love that.
Yasmin talked about her faith,musu's faith and the faith of
the community how everybody wasable to come together and all
these people were praying forher able to come together and

(14:29):
all these people were prayingfor her.
But she was able to get throughthis really difficult time
because of her deep relationshipwith God.

Speaker 2 (14:35):
Yeah, I appreciate all of that and I hope that our
listeners have been inspired tolook around and see how they can
be a part of someone's journeyThrough kindness or volunteering
or simply listening.
Small actions make a bigdifference and some big actions
make a big difference too, ifour listeners are moved by the

(15:01):
story to consider engaging inthe Emergency Medical Health
Fund that was establishedrecently A year ago as a result
of the interaction of all ofthese people for an
extraordinary mission to saveone child.
You'll find the link to do thatin our show notes.

(15:21):
We'd invite you to considerbecoming part of the team that
saves the next child's life.
At HCW, helping ChildrenWorldwide, we are always talking
about the need for familyempowerment advocates.
These are the people who givejust a tiny bit each month so
that case managers likeAbdullahi can work with families

(15:43):
in Sierra Leone and get theminto the social safety nets that
they need when their lives arethreatened.
Musu's life would not have beensaved but for the existence of
family advocates, but we also.
We also need individuals andorganizations who are interested

(16:03):
in taking that next step andinvesting in a major way for a
specific child who is whose lifeis being threatened in an
extraordinary way.
As I said in the beginning,this is one of those.
It takes a village stories, justas there were a dozen

(16:23):
organizations and individualswho came together to make this
miracle happen for Musu, thereare over 30 organizations in our
Together for Global Healthnetwork, and many of them have
stories of children who arestruggling and in need of
medical assistance, and that'swhy we established this fund in

(16:47):
the first place, for thoseextraordinary cases that cannot
be managed without an entirevillage coming together.
If this story is tugging atyour heart, well, I invite you
to join us, step into the storyand be a part of the solution.
Natalie, do you have anythingelse you'd like to say?

Speaker 1 (17:06):
Thank you, Yasmin, for sharing this incredible
story, and thank you, listeners,for joining us today on
Optimistic Voices A Child's View.

Speaker 2 (17:15):
If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to
subscribe, share it with friendsand leave a review.

Speaker 1 (17:22):
Until next time, remember there's always hope in
every voice matters.