Finding Her Voice: Ramatu’s Story
“Before I came to Helping Up Mission, I lost focus and I didn’t trust God to help me,” says Ramatu, age 28. Rama, as she likes to be called, grew up in Sierra Leone, West Africa and was raised by her grandmother after her mother moved to the United States when she was 5. Looking back, she describes her childhood simply: “It was good and bad. Good because I was with my grandma, but bad because I wasn’t allowed to see my dad. That side of me got shut down. I felt stuck and without a voice.”
After years with her grandmother, she joined her mother in Maryland in 2018, hoping to connect. “It was difficult because I felt like she didn’t know me. She was working, so I was lonely and I didn’t know how to talk about what I was feeling.”
In that loneliness, Ramatu turned to alcohol. “When I drank, I was able to say things that I couldn’t say when I was sober. It became the only way I knew how to express myself. I started using it to cope with everything—sadness, stress and even when I was happy. I just wanted to escape.”
Her father’s death in 2019 drove her deeper into addiction. “When my dad passed, I didn’t know how to deal with my grief. Alcohol became the only comfort I had, even though it was killing me. I would wake up with my heart racing and my body trembling. I knew I was on a path that could kill me. I was in and out of the hospital.”
In 2023, Ramatu entered treatment and learned about Helping Up Mission (HUM) Center for Women & Children. “When I first heard about HUM, I was scared. A year sounded like forever. I didn’t know anyone, but I told myself, Rama, you have nothing to lose.”
Her time at HUM has been life-changing. “Since coming to HUM, I learned that I need to face challenges as they come and that I do not have to rely on alcohol anymore. I thought I had to do everything on my own. Now I can express myself, even when it is hard. I don’t hide anymore.”
Looking ahead, Ramatu has hope. “I want to go back to school. I want to work in the medical field again. I want to have children one day. But I want to raise them differently. I want to give them the freedom to experience life, the freedom I never had.”
To the donors who make her journey possible, she has a message: “Thank you for giving me the chance to live a different life. Because of you, I found my voice. Because of you, I have hope.”
We are grateful for the contributions of WSRP Katie O., who curated this issue of Raising Up.
