A Nigerian boy saved from death on the street- a "sorcerer" went to school

A year ago, an employee of the humanitarian foundation from Denmark, Anya Rinngren Loven, together with her husband, was in Nigeria, where she was engaged in rescuing several of the thousands of young children abandoned on the street. Every year their number increases: their parents expel them and leave them to their fate, considering them sorcerers. "We have seen frightened, exhausted and even dead children," wrote Anya, co—founder of the African Children's Aid Education and Development Foundation (ACAEDF), in a note for her blog in 2016.

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Source: CBS News

It was then that she first met a little boy, whom she now calls Hope (Hope — "hope"). The child, who at that time was practically skin and bones, was abandoned to the mercy of fate by his own parents in a small village. "I decided to name him Hope because now we are all very hopeful that he will survive," Loven wrote two days after he was rescued. "He was in the village, naked, lonely and near death."

Loven posted a photo of herself giving little Hope water to draw attention to this serious problem in Nigeria and raise funds for the treatment and rehabilitation of the boy. The photo went viral on social media, and Hope's story quickly spread around the world. Now more than a year has passed since the first photo, and the three-year-old boy is unrecognizable.

"Today is exactly one year since the world found out about a little boy named Hope. Hope will go to school this week," Anya wrote on her Facebook page on January 30.

In the new picture, a much more plump Hope in a red sweatshirt, white sneakers and with a black backpack drinks water from a bottle, as he did a year ago. The healthy appearance of the boy turned out to be a pleasant surprise for those who learned his story a year ago, and the positive response on social networks was not long in coming.

Hope, along with 35 other children, lives in an orphanage run by Anya Loven and her husband David Emmanuel Umem, in the city of Eket in Nigeria. Dozens of other children like Hope, who were kicked out by their own parents, are being helped here. In 2009, fighters against the cruel tradition reported that in ten years in two of the 36 Nigerian provinces, about 15,000 children were accused of witchcraft and about a thousand were killed.

Thanks to thousands of people from all over the world who donated to the ACAEDF foundation, on behalf of Hope, Anya Loven was able to participate in the opening of a clinic that helps many other children accused of witchcraft. The organization also acquired a plot of land, which was called the "Land of Hope". A new orphanage will be built here, which will protect abandoned boys and girls. According to Loven, Hope is proof that the lives of these children can be changed.

"As you can see, Hope is growing fast. This is a cute, healthy and very joyful baby — all thanks to the incredible love and care he receives every day from our employees and all the children," says Anya. "Where there is love, there is hope."