How Dr. Iza Correll Built a Life-Saving Hospital on a $15 Donation | Ep. 42

Dr. Iza Correll shares her breathtaking journey from small-town Kentucky pageant queen and struggling student to becoming the youngest-ever recipient of the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award — and founder of OVI Children’s Hospital, Kenya’s first dedicated long-term pediatric care hospital for abandoned and vulnerable children.

Her path is one of grief transformed into fierce purpose. Dr. Iza reveals how her nephew’s tragic death inspired her life’s mission, and how personal adversity, family sacrifice, and unwavering faith became the fuel behind a revolutionary model of care—where just $10 a day saves a life.

From being bullied and doubted in college to bootstrapping a hospital on less than most Americans spend on coffee, she takes us inside miracles, heartbreaks, and game-changing innovations—like the 1:3 “hospital mama” care ratio and the Child Vitality Index—proving that real leadership is born far from the spotlight.

They talk about:

• The moment a stranger’s question changed Iza’s life forever
• Facing F’s in chemistry, dyslexia, and brutal bullying at university
• The devastating loss that inspired OVI Hospital’s founding
• How OVI rescues kids abandoned in bus stations and orphanages—sometimes at death’s door
• Building a $9,000/month pediatric hospital in rural Kenya ($10/day per child!)
• Hiring and empowering widows and survivors to become “hospital mamas”
• The power and pain of running a hospital as a single mom, working telemedicine at night
• Surviving on miracles: anonymous donors, royal family interventions, and impossible odds
• Using data (the Child Vitality Index) to choose who lives — and why
• Why the charity model is broken, the orphan crisis can end, and “humanitarian aid can make things worse”
• How you can make a real difference for the price of your morning latte

This episode is about radical compassion, systems thinking, and the courage to act when everyone else says it’s impossible. Dr. Iza’s story will break your heart—and rebuild your belief in the impact of ordinary people who refuse to quit.

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🧒🏻 Sponsor a Child: https://ovichildrenshospital.org/give

🔗 Connect with Dr. Iza Correll & OVI Children’s Hospital

Website: https://ovichildrenshospital.org/

Instagram: https://instagram.com/ovichildrenshospital

TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@ovichildrenshospital

Follow REAL Mentors Podcast

Instagram: https://instagram.com/realmentorspodcast/

Host: https://instagram.com/theseanmartin/

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🔥 About the Guest – Dr. Iza Correll

Dr. Iza Correll is the youngest-ever recipient of the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Award for Global Citizenship. She’s a survivor, single adoptive mother, and the founder of OVI Children’s Hospital in Migori, Kenya—East Africa’s first ever long-term care home and hospital for terminally ill, orphaned, or abandoned children. She’s building a blueprint for ending the orphan crisis worldwide, one miracle (and one $10 sponsorship) at a time.

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Tags & Keywords:

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