By sulaiman.sesay@awokonewspaper.sl
Freetown, SIERRA LEONE – In the quiet village of Kabbala, nestled in Sierra Leone’s northern countryside, the birth of a child is a celebration. But for Sudiatu Barry, the joy of welcoming her baby girl, Mariama, soon turned into a mother’s worst nightmare.
Just weeks after her birth, Mariama began struggling to breathe, crying endlessly, and refusing to feed. The local clinic had no answers. Desperate, Sudiatu embarked on a grueling journey to Freetown’s Ola During Children’s Hospital, where doctors delivered a devastating blow: Mariama had a ventricular septal defect—a hole in her heart.
“I felt my world collapse,” Sudiatu recalls, clutching her daughter’s tiny hand. “The doctors said she needed surgery, but we had no money—not even for the trip back home.”
With no paediatric heart surgeons in Sierra Leone and overseas treatment costing over $20,000, Sudiatu faced an impossible choice—until a lifeline appeared.
Hope came in the form of Pikin Bizness, a local charity dedicated to saving children in critical need. When founder Adonis Abboud heard Mariama’s story, he didn’t hesitate.
“She was too fragile at three months old—we had to wait,” Abboud explained. “But now, she’s strong enough. We’re sending her to France for life-saving surgery.”
On Friday, Abboud announced that Mariama, now one year old, would be flown to France for the operation—fully funded by Pikin Bizness. She will be their 41st child sent abroad for heart surgery.
For Sudiatu, the news was overwhelming. “I will miss her every day,” she admits, wiping away tears. “But this is the price of a mother’s love. I trust God will bring her back to me healed.”
As Mariama prepares for her journey, Sudiatu clings to one dream: the day her daughter returns, healthy and strong, to play under the mango trees of Kabbala—a living testament to hope, resilience, and the power of compassion. SKS/7/4/2025
