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Remember The Starving Kid Left To Die By His Parents? He Just Had His First Day Of School
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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’

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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

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He lives in an orphanage with other children cast out as ‘witches’ by their parents

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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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Stella

Stella

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Yvonne Bernal
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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

Amanda Panda
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"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.

Alec
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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.

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Yvonne Bernal
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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

Amanda Panda
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"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.

Alec
Community Member
7 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

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.

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