Optimistic Voices
Vital voices in the fields of global health, global child welfare reform and family separation, and those intent on conducting ethical missions in low resource communities and developing nations. Join our hosts as they engage in conversations with diverse guests from across the globe, sharing optimistic views, experiences, and suggestions for better and best practices as they discuss these difficult topics.
Optimistic Voices
A Child's View: Ishmael - Acts of Mercy in Sierra Leone
The episode shares Ishmael's inspiring journey from pain to healing through the compassionate care provided by Mercy UMC Hospital. Listeners learn how community support and dedicated healthcare professionals can create incredible transformations in children's lives.
• Ishmael's broken body and his mother's desperate journey for help
• Dr. Morie Vandi’s commitment to serving underserved communities
• Mercy's outreach program and how important it is in providing medical care to rural areas where poverty is extreme
• The successful surgical intervention for Ishmael's hernia
• The fusion of medical care and emotional support during recovery
• Ishmael’s joyful transformation post-surgery and his aspirations for the future
• Our young Co-host's perspective and her uplifting message about kindness and community impact
If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe, share it with your friends and leave a review. Together, we can bring more stories of hope to life.
More about our guest: https://www.helpingchildrenworldwide.org/latestnews/introducing-dr-morie-vandi-mercy-hospitals-newest-physician
More about Mercy Hospital:
https://www.helpingchildrenworldwide.org/mercy-hospital.html
How you can support crucial health services for children like Ishmael.
https://www.helpingchildrenworldwide.org/give-998668.html
Support the health mission for children just like Ishmael.
https://donate.helpingchildrenworldwide.org/campaigns/3521-mercy-hospital
https://donate.helpingchildrenworldwide.org/campaigns/36787-maternal-health-matters
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Helpingchildrenworldwide.org
Welcome to Optimistic Voices, A Child's View, where we share incredible stories of resilience and hope through the eyes of children.
Speaker 2:I'm Natalie Turner, and this is my co-host, melody Curtis. Together, we'll talk about real kids who face tough challenges and the amazing people who help them find a brighter future. We'll talk about real kids who face tough challenges and the amazing people who help them find a brighter future.
Speaker 1:Each episode features a special guest who will take us on a journey, one filled with adversity, compassion and hope. Today's story is about Ishmael, a young boy whose life was transformed by the dedication and compassion of the Mercy Hospital team.
Speaker 2:A five-year-old boy whose life took a dramatic turn after Mercy UMC Hospital's outreach team visited his remote village.
Speaker 1:Let's welcome today's guest, Dr Maury Vandy. Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 3:Thank you for having me.
Speaker 2:We can't wait to hear this story of hope. Thank you for having me. We can't wait to hear this story of hope.
Speaker 3:Before we dive in, tell us a little bit about yourself and your connection to Ishmael's story. Of course, nalee, of course. My name is Moivandi and I have a background in medicine, and I trained in tropical medicine and international Health. I am the medical doctor in charge of Mars UMC Hospital, which is a 50-bed 50-based facility serving the world population of Bodie Street in Sierra Leone. I oversee the hospitals of patients, including its clinical services and outreach programs.
Speaker 3:Our mission is to bring accessible and quality healthcare to underserved communities, and this includes addressing challenges like maternal health, child health, infectious diseases and chronic illnesses. One of our flagship initiatives is our outreach program, where we take basic healthcare services to remote villages. This is critical because many of these communities have little or no access to healthcare, and that is exactly how I met Ishmael. It was during one of our outing visits that I met Ishmael, a very young boy who lives in a remote village in Bo district. While in this village, to provide medical care to the people, his mother had brought him to a clinic. To provide medical care to the people, his mother had brought him to our clinic.
Speaker 3:She heard about our visit from another village, by the way, and traveled quite a distance to reach us. When she arrived, it was clear that Ishmael was in pain. His condition wasn't something we typically handle during our outreach visits, you know, because what we focus is on screening, treating common conditions like malaria and minor infections. But Ishmael, according to his mother, has been unaware for some time and his condition was severely affecting his daily life. He couldn't attend school regularly or play with his friends. His mother shared that they had visited nearby health facilities but none could really provide the care that was needed. The look of worry on her Facebook volumes about how desperate she was for help.
Speaker 2:That sounds so difficult. How old was Ishmael at the time?
Speaker 3:Well, Ishmael was just five years old when we first saw him, and it was clear that the situation was overwhelming, especially for his mother. You know, imagine leaving your village and traveling to the city, relying on the promise of help from a group of kind-hearted strangers. Ishmael, however, embodied pure hope. He just wanted to feel better.
Speaker 2:It's hard to imagine going through something like that.
Speaker 3:Let me just paint you a picture. This is a village where we have no motorways and you have to walk by foot from one village to another, and I'm sure they must have walked like tens of miles to get to where we were, because that was a village that was accessible through the hospital's ambulance. So we had to hop on the ambulance together with Ishmael and his mother, and then we had to drive all the way to the hospital in Bo City and when we arrived it seemed to fall into action to attend to Ishmael. We then conducted a full evaluation and developed a treatment plan for him. So Ishmael had a hernia which was unlike what we usually see. So a hernia, what he had was an inguinal hernia, which is like a protrusion in the abdominal wall. So when Ishmael arrived at the hospital, the team sprang into action and we conducted a full evaluation and developed a treatment plan for him tailored to his needs. Evaluation and developed a treatment plan for him tailored to his needs.
Speaker 3:Ishmael had a hannya. So a hannya is a swelling in the scrotal region of usually men, where he had an inguinal hannya in his case. So he had a swelling in the scrotum, which was one scrotum, so it is basically your intestine descending to your scrotum, which was one scrotum, so it is basically your intestine descending to your scrotum because of a defect in the abdominal wall, in the wall of the tummy. So he needed surgery for that, and in less than one hour his troubles were over. The staff at Massey Hospital are very skilled and they work together to ensure that Ishmael receives the best possible care. It wasn't just medical treatment that they received, though. Our team also provided emotional support to Ishmael and his mother. Being away from home and surrounded by strangers can be overwhelming, especially for a child, but our nurses went out of their way to make him feel safe and cared for. But our nurses went out of their way to make him feel safe and cared for.
Speaker 2:That's incredible.
Speaker 3:How did Ishmael feel when they started to see things change? Initially, Ishmael was very quiet and meek, but as his condition improved, we began to see a different side of him. He started smiling, chatting to his mother and even playing with the balloon puppet one of the nurses made while he was recovering from his bed. His transformation was truly heartwarming.
Speaker 1:Let's take a moment to celebrate the people who made a difference here the outreach team, the staff at Mercy UMC Hospital and Ishmael's family. Their collective effort made this incredible outcome possible.
Speaker 2:Where is Ishmael now?
Speaker 3:So Ishmael is back home healthy and happy. He has returned to school and is going to get in with his friends. His mother told us that he's given up two years in energetic reform. She's incredibly grateful for the care he received and hopes he will one day grow up to help others, just like the master team helped him.
Speaker 1:What a transformation.
Speaker 2:Did he share any dreams for the future?
Speaker 3:Yes, his mother told us that Ishmael's dream was to become a teacher one day. She said he's already helping his younger sibling learn how to read alphabets. It's incredible to see how far he's come.
Speaker 1:Before we wrap up, what's one note of optimism you'd like our listeners to take away from this story, Dr Vandy?
Speaker 3:For Ishmael. The story reminds us that even small acts of care can lead to life-changing transformations. You know, when communities or hospitals like in our case and individuals come together, they can totally make a difference in the lives of children like Ishmael.
Speaker 2:My note of optimism from Ishmael's story is that it shows that people can come together and truly have an impact on the life of a child or a community.
Speaker 1:We hope today's story has inspired our listeners to look around and see how they can be a part of someone's journey, whether it's through kindness, volunteering or simply listening, like the nurses at Mercy Hospital. Small actions make a big difference.
Speaker 2:Thank you, dr Vandy, for sharing this incredible story and thank you, listeners, for joining us today on Optimistic Voices A Child's View.
Speaker 1:If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe, share it with your friends and leave a review. Together, we can bring more stories of hope to life.
Speaker 2:Until next time, remember there's always hope in every voice matters. Bye for now bye, dr vandy.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for being with us thank you thanks, natalie.
