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PODCAST

Optimistic Voices

Helping Children Worldwide; Dr. Laura Horvath, Emmanuel M. Nabieu, Yasmine Vaughan, Melody Curtiss

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.

science social sciences

All Episodes

48:15

What Happens When Empowerment And Accountability...

Optimistic Voices ·

2025/12/19

Send us a text What if your partnership model unintentionally silences the very people it’s meant to elevate? We sit down with Asia Blackwell, executive director of Maya Midwifery, to unpack how a well-intended collaboration in Guatemala drifted toward hierarchy by over-rewarding a few “standout” leaders while leaving many midwives underpowered. Asia lays out how they rebuilt trust with transparent systems, written agreements, and equitable pathways that spread training, decision-making, and ...

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81:59

Surviving Corruption, Betrayal and Violence, A...

Optimistic Voices ·

2025/12/10

Send us a text A center for indigenous birthing practices grew out of an expatriate's dream and was realized as a thriving hub for Indigenous midwives in Guatemala. The ground shifted when a model of local ownership and global alliance collided with personal greed. Executive Director Asia Blackwell unpacks the full arc: early wins rooted in trust, warning signs revealed by governance training and a whistleblower policy, and the moment when cultural respect had to face corrupt realities, overc...

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87:05

Community-Led Change is Possible When We Listen and...

Optimistic Voices ·

2025/11/28

Send us a text What happens when we stop viewing rural communities as problems to be fixed and start recognizing them as powerful agents of their own transformation? The answer unfolds beautifully in this eye-opening conversation with Aminata Kamara and Sheku Mohamed Gassimu Jr. from One Village Partners (OVP), a Sierra Leonean organization revolutionizing how sustainable development happens in remote communities. "Communities are not like a white paper. They have knowledge of their lives. T...

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53:59

Help Desk or Round Table? Your Mission Trip Might...

Optimistic Voices ·

2025/11/10

Send us a text Dr. Hunter Farrell challenges everything you thought you knew about short-term missions with compelling insights drawn from his 30+ years of global mission experience and anthropological research. He reveals startling statistics about our mission economy: American Christians spend $3.5-5 billion annually sending 1.6 million people on short-term trips, yet often these efforts fall short of creating lasting change. What's gone wrong? Farrell introduces the concept of "selfie mis...

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23:52

Cross-Border Collaboration Brings Trafficked...

Optimistic Voices ·

2025/10/17

Send us a text The remarkable journey of an 11-year-old girl named Em demonstrates the life-changing power of cross-border collaboration in child protection. When Em was trafficked from her home in Liberia to Sierra Leone under false promises of education, she instead found herself forced into domestic labor and street selling. After becoming separated from her trafficker and lost on the streets, local authorities connected her with the Child Reintegration Center (CRC). Through counseling se...

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91:54

Measuring What Matters: The Challenge of Defining...

Optimistic Voices ·

2025/10/05

Send us a text What does it really mean to empower people? Beyond buzzwords and good intentions lies a complex reality that social impact organizations grapple with daily. This conversation with researchers Dr. Thomas Cray and Dr. Sarah Neville dives deep into the messy, thought-provoking questions that challenge conventional thinking about empowerment. The discussion takes us beyond simplistic notions of "teaching a man to fish" to examine whether we're creating the fishing holes people nee...

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18:02

From War to Medicine: The Resilience and Brilliance...

Optimistic Voices ·

2025/09/21

Send us a text What happens when tragedy and opportunity collide in the life of a child? Dr. Aruna Stevens' story answers this question with breathtaking resilience and hope. Born just before Sierra Leone's devastating civil war, Aruna's childhood was shattered when his father was killed and his extended family of twenty separated. He experienced homelessness, hunger, and the daily struggle for survival in a community where healthcare was virtually non-existent—where people routinely died fro...

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63:03

The Science and Faith of Bouncing Back: Nicole Wilke...

Optimistic Voices ·

2025/09/08

Send us a text What makes some children overcome unimaginable trauma while others struggle to recover? Is resilience something you're born with, or can it be cultivated? These questions drive our fascinating conversation with Dr. Nicole Wilke, author and Director of Research at Christian Alliance for Orphans. Drawing from her extraordinary background—growing up in a family that fostered 70 children and personally experiencing severe health challenges as a teenager—Nicole brings professional ...

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66:06

Party in the Back: Your Superhero Cape Belongs to...

Optimistic Voices ·

2025/08/12

Send us a text The difference between helping and hurting often comes down to one critical question: are we empowering and dignifying people or creating dependencies and disabilities? In this eye-opening conversation with Sheree Reece, Global Missions Director for a UMC Mega Church - Church of the Resurrection, Laura and Yaz unpack the profound shift happening in mission work worldwide—moving from traditional charity models that often foster dependence to sustainable approaches that build gen...

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22:31

Hannah's Story - Broken to Brave: A Father's Fight to...

Optimistic Voices ·

2025/07/31

Send us a text What happens when a struggling father refuses to let disability define his family's future? Hannah Smith's remarkable story reveals the transformative journey from family separation to triumphant reunion in post-war Sierra Leone. Hannah's story begins in hardship—her disabled father, a determined blacksmith, made the heartbreaking decision to place his children in an orphanage when he couldn't provide basic necessities. Though initially grateful for education and proper care a...

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60:15

From Playgrounds to Paramilitary: The Stolen Children...

Optimistic Voices ·

2025/07/17

Send us a text The systematic abduction and militarization of Ukrainian children by Russian forces represents one of the most devastating yet underreported aspects of the ongoing war. In this eye-opening conversation, Ukrainian historian and religious scholar Vladislav Haverlov reveals the shocking scope and calculated nature of Russia's deportation campaign targeting Ukrainian youth. His research with the Institute of World History at Ukraine's National Academy of Sciences and his work docu...

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72:43

Rooted in Reality: Simulating Life on the Edge of...

Optimistic Voices ·

2025/07/02

Send us a text Ever wondered what life is really like for families living on the edge of extreme poverty? Most of us have only seen poverty through statistics or images, but a new immersive experience called "Rooted in Reality" is changing how we understand this complex reality. When a team of college students traveled to Sierra Leone to develop this groundbreaking poverty simulation, they discovered something profound. People experiencing poverty don't define their situation primarily by th...

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18:15

Broken Trust, Brave Hearts and a True Rescue: The...

Optimistic Voices ·

2025/06/19

Send us a text Princess was just six years old when someone finally spoke up about the abuse she was suffering. That brave act by a Child Reintegration Center alumnus became the first link in a chain of compassionate interventions that would transform her life. Reverend Olivia Fonney, Director of the Child Reintegration Center in Sierra Leone, takes us through Princess's journey from trauma to healing. When Princess first arrived at the CRC, she was understandably confused and frightened. Ra...

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57:53

Rising Tides Catalyzing Change: Part 2. Beyond...

Optimistic Voices ·

2025/06/06

Send us a text The global movement to transition children from orphanages to families is gaining momentum, but significant challenges remain. In this thought-provoking episode, David Titus Moussa hosts a conversation with Stephen Usembe, a care leaver and founder of Kenya Society of Care Leavers, and Phil Aspergren, executive director of Casa Viva in Costa Rica, as they unpack key insights from the recent Rising Tide Conference. Stephen shares his unique perspective as someone who grew up in...

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54:07

Rising Tides: How Family Care Is Replacing Institutions

Optimistic Voices ·

2025/05/25

Send us a text Child welfare is undergoing a profound transformation worldwide as organizations shift away from institutional orphanages toward family-based care models. But what does this transition actually look like on the ground? How can we redirect well-intentioned support toward solutions that truly serve children's needs? This eye-opening conversation brings together true pioneers in the global care reform movement. Stephen Ucembe draws from his lived experience growing up in a Kenyan...

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27:55

From Village to Nursing: Monjama's Journey of Resilience

Optimistic Voices ·

2025/05/11

Send us a text Discover the remarkable journey of Monjama, a young woman from rural Sierra Leone whose life trajectory shifted dramatically through education, family reconnection, and dedicated support. Left fatherless in a remote village without schools or healthcare facilities, Monjama's future seemed predetermined by generational poverty—until intervention changed everything. At just seven years old, Monjama entered the Child Reintegration Center (CRC), encountering formal education for t...

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36:31

The Hidden Problems with Child Sponsorship Programs:...

Optimistic Voices ·

2025/05/02

Send us a text Child sponsorship seems like the perfect way to help vulnerable children abroad – for just $30 a month, you get photos, letters, and the satisfaction of changing a child's life. But what if this model is causing unexpected problems? In this thought-provoking episode, we dive deep into the $3.29 billion child sponsorship industry with Dr. Hunter Farrell, author of "Congregational Mission." Having operated our own sponsorship program for years, we explore why global child welfar...

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40:43

Twice Orphaned: The MaMaw's House Story - Why...

Optimistic Voices ·

2025/04/18

Send us a text When Jen Conrad first sponsored a child in Sierra Leone, she never imagined it would lead to adoption proceedings, heartbreaking visa denials, and eventually creating a groundbreaking program that's changing lives across the country. Her story reveals the hidden aftermath of institutional care that few people consider: what happens when orphaned children become adults? After traveling to Sierra Leone multiple times and forming deep bonds with two siblings, Jen and her husband ...

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48:31

When Baby Blues Turns Deadly - Maternal Mental...

Optimistic Voices ·

2025/04/06

Send us a text Dr. Abdullahi Jawobah takes us deep into the critically overlooked world of maternal mental health, where his groundbreaking research reveals a staggering statistic: approximately 50% of pregnant and lactating mothers in Sierra Leone experience psychological distress. This silent epidemic has far-reaching consequences not only for mothers but for their unborn children, as Dr. Jawobah explains how stress hormones cross the placenta to affect gene expression in developing f...

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18:35

The Global Village Unites for a Child: Musu's Story

Optimistic Voices ·

2025/03/27

Send us a text Sixteen-year-old Musu Sangu faced a devastating diagnosis in Sierra Leone—a life-threatening heart condition requiring specialized surgery unavailable anywhere in her country. With her heart functioning at just 20% capacity and given only a 40% chance of survival, Musu's future looked grim. But what followed was an extraordinary demonstration of global compassion that would save her life. The journey began at Mercy Hospital in Sierra Leone, where Dr. Aruna Stevens identified M...

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67 results

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