A Danish aid worker who rescued a young boy who had been ostracised by his community in Nigeria says he has just completed his first week at school.
Anja Ringgren Loven marked the landmark in three-year-old Hope's life by recreating the image of her, encouraging him to drink from a bottle of water, which was shared around the world one year ago.
Ms Loven and her husband, David Emmanuel Umem, run an orphanage in south-east Nigeria for children who have been abandoned by their families as a result of superstitious beliefs, called the African Children’s Aid Education and Development Foundation (ACAEDF).
They took on and named then-two-year-old Hope on 30 January 2016, after he had been accused of being a witch. Hope was emaciated, riddled with worms and suffering hypospadias, “an inborn condition in which one has an incomplete developed urethra”, she says.
Widely recognised for her humanitarian work, Anja was named "the most inspiring person of the year 2016" by Germany's OOOM magazine, beating Pope Francis and Barack Obama for the title.
Today, Hope is a normal boy living with 35 other children in the orphanage and his story continues to help dozens of other children like him.
The rescue worker, Anja, has since been able to open a doctor’s clinic for more such children. The organization has also bought a plot of land, christened Land of Hope, for a new orphanage that will rehabilitate other abandoned boys and girls.
unknown_human on March 31st, 2018 at 17:13 UTC »
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/nigeria-witch-boy-photo-anja-ringgren-loven-facebook-images-first-day-of-school-a7561581.html
Accused of being a witch. That's so fucked up.
TooShiftyForYou on March 31st, 2018 at 17:44 UTC »
Widely recognised for her humanitarian work, Anja was named "the most inspiring person of the year 2016" by Germany's OOOM magazine, beating Pope Francis and Barack Obama for the title.
Today, Hope is a normal boy living with 35 other children in the orphanage and his story continues to help dozens of other children like him.
The rescue worker, Anja, has since been able to open a doctor’s clinic for more such children. The organization has also bought a plot of land, christened Land of Hope, for a new orphanage that will rehabilitate other abandoned boys and girls.
Source
baddspellar on March 31st, 2018 at 19:05 UTC »
Here's another picture of the boy, and here is another picture of the two of them together. Both are from this article.
The world is a better place because of Ms Loven.