Remember The Starving Kid Left To Die By His Parents? He Just Had His First Day Of School
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In late January 2016, a Danish aid worker went on a rescue mission on the streets of Nigeria and discovered a starving child on the edge of death. The moment was captured in a haunting photograph, in which she tilts a water bottle toward the frail young boy’s lips. One year later, the same, then starving kid, is starting school after a full recovery, and a recreation of his first photo shows just how far he’s come.
Anja Ringgren Lovén works for an organisation called DINNødhjælp (‘your relief’) which found the abandoned boy, appropriately named Hope. They rescue children labeled as ‘witches,’ who are often tortured and killed by their own poverty-stricken parents. Some religious leaders in Nigeria accuse children of witchcraft in hopes of charging poor families for supposed exorcism services, an epidemic Anja and her team combat by sheltering the witch hunt affected children.
We previously wrote about Hope’s journey here and here. Take a look at his timeline below, and see how just one year of love and care gave him a completely fresh start.
More info: DINNødhjælp, Facebook, Instagram (h/t)
Remember the starving, abandoned child found in Nigeria in January 2016?
This is his first day of school, exactly one year after he was rescued by Anja Ringgren Lovén
The boy, named Hope, was left to die by his parents after being accused of ‘witchcraft’
He was taken to the hospital immediately, and was treated for malnutrition and stomach worms
Just 8 months after his discovery, he started to gain weight and regain his energy
He even received a fresh haircut to go along with his new lease on life
Hope made a full recovery, and is barely recognizable from before
He lives in an orphanage with other children cast out as ‘witches’ by their parents
But really, who could accuse this face of anything evil?
The orphanage, run by Anja Ringgren Lovén and her team, proved to be a loving home for Hope
Anja works for DINNødhjælp (‘your relief’), a Danish volunteer organisation active in Nigeria
“All children have rights and those rights must be protected, always,” Anja writes on Facebook
One year of love and care gave Hope a completely fresh start
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It's not important to see what man can do with hate. It's all about seeing what you can do with love...
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That was a man?
no, that was man, not a man.
He is destined for GREAT things in life. God bless Anja, and the organization DINNødhjælp for helping Hope. Also to all the other people on this planet who continue to help in whatever way they can to help end such travesties
Maybe God can appear and stop the travesty but sadly he has not so in his name these atrocities happen...
Which god?
And in God's name these acts of mercy and grace are done.
"But really, who could accuse this face of anything evil" that's honestly what I want to know. What is it about these kids that makes parents think they are evil? I'm so glad this kid was saved, and so sad there are probably so many more like him.
From a previous report on this story I suspect that the fact that the boy has hypospadias, a slight malformation where the urethra emerges somewhere other than at the tip of the penis may have caused an ignorant/superstitious community to see him as cursed. I'm not defending this, nowhere near it, but you asked what could possibly cause the parents to see a kid as evil, and this is a close to an explanation as I've been able to find.
You never know the roots of such behaviors as "my child is evil". And it's probably more common than we think, if you take a 15 yo boy kicked out of his house by his religious family because he is gay, it's practically the same thing... Or people being outcasted for a handicap, or parents rejecting their child because he doesn't want to study what they want, things like that. It's a big giant mess where people start to use their beliefs as a weapon against those who don't fit their views, even if they are their children :/
Last year when I first saw this story I asked my Nigerian friend and he was also convinced that some children are withches... I was like wtf?!? He said he's seen a child levitate its mother.. 😑 Riiiight. The belief in black magic is almost as strong as the support for a certain orange man in the West.
Unfortunately, another reason is because some of the religious leaders prey on people’s superstitions & will accuse children of being “possessed” by evil spirits/demons just so they can charge the parents/family money for an “exorcism”. A lot of them are either too poor to afford one or to continue paying for “services” to remove the supposed “evil spirit(s)”, so they just abandon the child. It’s so incredibly sad & heartbreaking. 😔
Amanda P It won't let me reply to your comment on what Lemur said, but I completely agree, you said it very eloquently.
I completely agree with you Amanda Panda. I am so relieved that he is saved and I'm glad he has a fresh start <3
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That happens in Africa :-( ... sad - but most people are by far still not civilized. Just google SA President Zuma and AIDS ( just have a shower afterwards ) or check this ( just examples ... ) will take at least another 100 years to civilize them : http://www.ibtimes.com.au/its-fatal-be-albino-tanzania-due-cannibalism-1423185
every human being is from GOD. he gave us life, that child is from GOD. thats why no one should accuse him of evil. to anja, continue to look after HOPE. you have a good heart.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
yea I thought the same. African people believe in weird things.
Don't generalize all Africans as the same. Them being African has nothing to do with it. There are people who believe in "weird" things all over the world.
Not only Africans all cultures arnd the world have their own 'weird' beliefs
I'm not suggesting that at all, i'm trying to UNDERSTAND why they think these things, understanding and educating often helps to fix problems, not ethnocentric thinking.
It's not important to see what man can do with hate. It's all about seeing what you can do with love...
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
That was a man?
no, that was man, not a man.
He is destined for GREAT things in life. God bless Anja, and the organization DINNødhjælp for helping Hope. Also to all the other people on this planet who continue to help in whatever way they can to help end such travesties
Maybe God can appear and stop the travesty but sadly he has not so in his name these atrocities happen...
Which god?
And in God's name these acts of mercy and grace are done.
"But really, who could accuse this face of anything evil" that's honestly what I want to know. What is it about these kids that makes parents think they are evil? I'm so glad this kid was saved, and so sad there are probably so many more like him.
From a previous report on this story I suspect that the fact that the boy has hypospadias, a slight malformation where the urethra emerges somewhere other than at the tip of the penis may have caused an ignorant/superstitious community to see him as cursed. I'm not defending this, nowhere near it, but you asked what could possibly cause the parents to see a kid as evil, and this is a close to an explanation as I've been able to find.
You never know the roots of such behaviors as "my child is evil". And it's probably more common than we think, if you take a 15 yo boy kicked out of his house by his religious family because he is gay, it's practically the same thing... Or people being outcasted for a handicap, or parents rejecting their child because he doesn't want to study what they want, things like that. It's a big giant mess where people start to use their beliefs as a weapon against those who don't fit their views, even if they are their children :/
Last year when I first saw this story I asked my Nigerian friend and he was also convinced that some children are withches... I was like wtf?!? He said he's seen a child levitate its mother.. 😑 Riiiight. The belief in black magic is almost as strong as the support for a certain orange man in the West.
Unfortunately, another reason is because some of the religious leaders prey on people’s superstitions & will accuse children of being “possessed” by evil spirits/demons just so they can charge the parents/family money for an “exorcism”. A lot of them are either too poor to afford one or to continue paying for “services” to remove the supposed “evil spirit(s)”, so they just abandon the child. It’s so incredibly sad & heartbreaking. 😔
Amanda P It won't let me reply to your comment on what Lemur said, but I completely agree, you said it very eloquently.
I completely agree with you Amanda Panda. I am so relieved that he is saved and I'm glad he has a fresh start <3
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
That happens in Africa :-( ... sad - but most people are by far still not civilized. Just google SA President Zuma and AIDS ( just have a shower afterwards ) or check this ( just examples ... ) will take at least another 100 years to civilize them : http://www.ibtimes.com.au/its-fatal-be-albino-tanzania-due-cannibalism-1423185
every human being is from GOD. he gave us life, that child is from GOD. thats why no one should accuse him of evil. to anja, continue to look after HOPE. you have a good heart.
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
yea I thought the same. African people believe in weird things.
Don't generalize all Africans as the same. Them being African has nothing to do with it. There are people who believe in "weird" things all over the world.
Not only Africans all cultures arnd the world have their own 'weird' beliefs
I'm not suggesting that at all, i'm trying to UNDERSTAND why they think these things, understanding and educating often helps to fix problems, not ethnocentric thinking.