STORIES

Beneficiary Report
Martha Koroma,  Mbaomahun

I had my first child at the age of 15.  At that time, I dropped out of school when I was in Class 4.  My husband died in a road accident when I was 27;  we had 5 children together.   I remarried and stayed at Mbao-mi birth waiting home in Tikonko at the end of my pregnancy.

I was surprised when I delivered triplets, I was expecting to have twins.  The triplets names are:  Sao, Gbassay and Ginna.  Caring for triplets is very challenging for my husband and me.  We are poor and daily survival is difficult.  With the help of the One Days Wages grant, RHCI provided much needed support with home visits from nurses and community health workers.

The RHIC team did regular visits to make sure the babies were well cared for.  They provided food to help me eat well and to have a healthy balance to breastfeed the babies.  Formula, transportation and medications were provided.  The support received has helped us improve the quality of life and make the triplets grow up healthy and strong.  (interview conducted and translated by RHCI staff in Sierra Leone).

Fatmata

Fatmata Abudlai, age 10 and her mother live in the RHCI service area of the Tikonko Chiefdom.   Fatmata is a patient at the new SCD Clinic.  Quote from her mother: “I am really grateful for this clinic for sickle cell disease.  Now I am aware and know what to do and not do.  Thank you to God for this clinic. ”

Sickle Cell Disease is a serious inherited blood disorder affecting 1–2% of newborns in Sierra Leone. Without treatment, most children die before age five. Until now, specialized care for these patients has been extremely limited in Sierra Leone.

RHCI is proud to partner with Mercy Methodist Hospital and an international team of SCD experts to bring life-saving care to children who previously had little access to treatment. Together, we are creating a brighter future for children living with Sickle Cell Disease in Sierra Leone.

In August 2025, the Hawa Daphne Stevens Memorial Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) Clinic opened at Mercy Methodist Hospital in Bo, Sierra Leone. Developed through a year-long collaboration among healthcare professionals and organizations in Sierra Leone, the United States, and Europe, the clinic is the first dedicated SCD clinic serving Sierra Leone’s Southern Province. RHCI is proud to be a partner in this team.

The clinic provides ongoing care, treatment, and education to Fatmata and other children living with SCD. RHCI supports the program by transporting 20 patients each month from Tikonko Chiefdom to receive services. Currently, 69 children are enrolled in the clinic and are receiving regular care.  Many more are on the waiting list to enroll.

Picture #2: The collaborative team (including 3 RHCI staff) at the first Sickle Cell Disease Screening clinic at Mercy Hospital in Bo.

Kadiatu

Kadiatu was 20 and already a mother of three when she became pregnant with her fourth. At 38 weeks, Kadiatu’s health care provider said it was time that she make the three-hour trek from her village of Nyama to RHCI’s Mbao-mi Mother’s Home. When labor started, RHCI safely transferred Kadiatu to Tikonko’s Health Center where she gave birth to a healthy baby boy under the care of skilled attendants. Kadiatu returned to Mbao-mi to recover for a few days before RHCI drove Kadiatu and her newborn back to her village where her husband and other children awaited their joyful return.