For Adama, who lives with her family in Kpuwabu village in Sierra Leone’s Eastern Province, education is deeply important. “I want them to go to school,” she shared, believing education would give her children access to better opportunities in life.
When Adama felt the school in their community could not provide the quality of education she wanted for Jaminatu, she arranged for her daughter to live with an aunt in a nearby village and attend school there. For Jaminatu’s family, having her stay with a relative was a practical way to give her access to the education her mother wanted for her.
“My hope was that she would be able to go to school there,” Adama explained.
But while living with her aunt, an accident threatened the future Adama had envisioned for her daughter.
The Day Everything Changed
Jaminatu was 11 years old and in her aunt’s home when she got involved in a hot water accident. She dozed off while boiling water and awoke to overwhelming burning pain spreading through her body.
Jaminatu’s parents arrived the next morning to take her for treatment. “… in the government hospital, people said she wouldn’t survive upon seeing her,” Adama reported. Based on this assessment, they decided to leave the hospital.
The hospital gave them a referral to another government hospital where each day of treatment cost SLE800. The family couldn’t keep up with the bill, so they turned to a blend of traditional remedies and modern medicine instead. “Tablets like penicillin and pain medicines were given to her alongside traditional medicine,” Adama explained.
The local treatment lasted a month but left Jaminatu with visible scars and a contracture on her left axilla and elbow. This contracture limited the use of her arm.
“I want to be going to school, but I am unable,” Jaminatu shared. “Seeing other children do things that I am unable to do breaks my heart.”
“Jaminatu couldn’t socialise much for fear of mockery. She stayed home most of the time,” Adama continued. “Those challenges made her cry a lot.” As a result, Jaminatu retreated and spent most of her time indoors.
Unexpected Hope Arrives
One fateful day, Jaminatu’s grandfather heard on the radio that an organisation treating children and adults with conditions like his beloved granddaughter’s was registering patients in the nearby town. Relaying this to Jaminatu’s parents, they set out for registration the very next morning.
When Jaminatu was selected for surgery on board the Global Mercy™, Adama was overjoyed. “The mockery will be over after the surgery!”
Dr. Tertius Venter, a South African reconstructive plastics surgeon who later operated on Jaminatu, described burn injuries as a disease of poverty. “We don’t see these types of consequences of burn injuries in a developed world,” he shared.
“So, what is often a more superficial burn gets infected and as time goes develops into a real deep burn with a lot of skin loss. And the only way the body can heal this is by pulling the skin edges together. If that’s over a joint, you end up with a joint that can’t work anymore.”
The Turning Point
On 25th September 2025, Jaminatu received surgery on board the Global Mercy. It lasted three and half hours, sparking her mother’s hope for her education once again. “My hope for Jaminatu is for her to go back to school, get educated, and become a nurse,” Adama shared.
After Jaminatu’s cast was taken off post-surgery, rehabilitation began. “We made a splint for her and started doing some exercises for her shoulder,” shared Willemeike van Reenen, volunteer physiotherapist from the Netherlands. “Then we started on moving the elbow to shoulder and strengthening exercises.”
Through it all, Jaminatu stayed resilient. Her personality shined through, sparking joy in the hearts of the volunteer crew. “She’s a very sweet girl. She loves to give hugs and loves to smile,” shared Savannah Barth, volunteer ward nurse from the US. “She’s very determined. She has that personality like nothing is going to stop her.”
Renewed Hope for Jaminatu
After nearly six months on the ship, Jaminatu was finally discharged to return home.
Adama called her husband to inform him, who then passed on the good news to the rest of the family, who then passed it on to their entire community. As a result, Jaminatu and her mother arrived to welcoming shouts of joy—an entire celebration filled with dancing and singing.
“When we arrived and saw the crowd, I was so happy. They came to see my child. It made me so happy yesterday,” Adama rejoiced. She is relieved that her daughter can now pursue formal education and is hopeful that someday Jaminatu will be able to help people just as she has been helped.
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