Photo by Karim Shamsi-Basha.
Moussa Diallo
Moussa is now 12 years old and a sixth-grader at Homewood Middle School. Neal Schier is trying to get him a permanent visa and find him an adoptive family so Moussa can stay in Homewood.
Like most 12-year-olds, Moussa Diallo doesn’t know what he wants to do when he grows up. He might be a basketball star, sell boats or maybe become a pilot like the man who saved his life.
What Moussa doesn’t want, however, is to return to begging for money and food on the streets of Dakar, Senegal. He has only been in the U.S. for a year, but Homewood is his home.
Worst of the worst
Born in Bamako, Mali, Moussa came to Dakar as a toddler with his little sister, grandfather and step-grandmother. He begged for money and food to stay alive, but Moussa also suffered from a severe cross-eye and dystonia, a neurological disorder affecting his muscle movement. Although he was one of many children on the streets, something about this particular 4-year-old stood out to Neal Schier when he visited Dakar in 2006.
“We use the words ‘desperate’ or ‘critical’ for some of these children. It really was,” Schier said. “He was really in a worst of the worst situation.”
Schier came to the country as an Air Force Reserve officer and could not get the boy out of his mind. He returned home to Pennsylvania but began paying a friend to provide for Moussa, first with a daily meal and then with a home when Moussa’s family could not care for him. In 2010, Lauren Livingston, a college friend living in Homewood, called Schier out of the blue. When she heard about Moussa, Livingston was immediately moved.
“She said, ‘We can help.’ That’s sort of the good thing about Homewood,” Schier said. “[She didn’t say,] ‘I know somebody’ or ‘go to this website’ or ‘call this person.’ She said, ‘We can help.’”
With help from her and other area friends, 8-year-old Moussa flew to Birmingham in 2010 and received surgery for his eye, a leg brace and physical therapy. He also attended Shades Cahaba Elementary, marking the first time he had received formal education. A few months later, however, Moussa had to return to his life in Senegal.
Bringing Moussa back
In August 2013, Schier had another shot at giving Moussa a better life. A disability grounded Schier from his job as a pilot for a while, so he decided to temporarily leave Pennsylvania and bring Moussa back to Homewood. Under Schier’s care and special education classes at Shades Cahaba, Moussa has flourished.
“Homewood has been very, very good to him,” Schier said. “There’s no other place in America, I’m convinced, that can do and has done what Homewood and Birmingham has done.”
Moussa’s comprehension of English has improved remarkably, though he still has some difficulty speaking his new language. He loves watching The Three Stooges and SpongeBob SquarePants to continue learning. Last year in fifth grade, Moussa’s favorite subject was math, and he made friends with many of his classmates.
“He was really funny and everyone wanted to sit next to him, so he was always getting a lot of attention,” said Anna Claire Stone, who became friends with Moussa in Melissa Day’s fifth-grade class.
Moussa attends Metropolitan Church of God in Hoover with Anna Claire’s family, and they hang out together in the neighborhood or at the Homewood Community Center pool. When asked what he likes about Homewood, Moussa said it was “friends and food and everything.” For the first time, he’s getting a chance to be a kid: playing video games, eating pizza and shooting hoops with his friends.
“He really wants to [stay in Homewood] because he’s made a lot of friends and he’s fun to be around,” Anna Claire said. “I just want him to stay.”
Fighting to stay
Moussa’s future in Homewood is in jeopardy, however. His guardian in Senegal, the man who originally provided Moussa with meals at Schier’s request, is fighting to have Moussa return to his home. This entrenches Schier in a legal battle that threatens Moussa’s ability to get a permanent visa. If Moussa is forced to return to Senegal, Schier said it would be an extremely grave situation for a boy who still has significant medical and language issues.
Schier has also run into challenges trying to find a permanent home for Moussa. While he will always be part of Moussa’s life, Schier said he will have to return to his home and job in Pennsylvania, and Moussa needs a family that can keep up with an energetic 12-year-old.
Between the legal battle, medical expenses and trying to help Moussa adjust to life in the U.S., Schier admits he is exhausted and “hanging on by the tail.” He has spent about $50,000 on the boy’s care, plane tickets and legal fees since 2006. As he continues to search for Moussa’s adoptive home, Schier is also trying to raise $30,000 through Indiegogo so he can continue to provide a home and legal protection.
Although he hates to “rattle the cup” among his friends, Schier hopes Moussa’s story will resonate with people who can help give the young boy an education, a stable home and a future that would have been unimaginable to that 4-year-old sitting by the street in Dakar.
“How do you walk away?” Schier asked. “I’m fighting for him.”
