The family had just finished daily prayers, when a mortar struck their small home in Monrovia in July 2003. Albert and Fatu Gertee held tight to their infant son but could only hear the frantic screams of 6-year-old Musu. When the dust cleared, the young parents found Musu's right hand was gone, sheared by a rocket attack.
When the Chicago Tribune published the story about Musu in Dec 2005, it caught the attention of Liberia’s newly elected President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf. The President took Musu with her on a trip to Chicago in May 2006 to raise awareness among the American public about the needs of victims of Liberia’s 14-year-long civil war.

copyright(c)Kuni Takahashi