There are images that really make your heart tighten: like those that portray little Hope, a two-year-old boy who was found alone, naked and malnourished while wandering the streets of Uyo, in southern Nigeria. The Danish aid worker Anja Ringgren Loven, founder, together with her Nigerian husband, of the African Children's Aid Education and Development Foundation rescued him and gave him first aid.
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There are images that really make the heart tighten: like those they portray little Hope, a two-year-old boy who was found alone, naked and malnourished while wandering the streets of Uyo, in southern Nigeria.
The Danish aid worker rescued him and gave him first aid Anja Ringgren Loven, founder, together with her Nigerian husband, of the African Children’s Aid Education and Development Foundation.
Little or nothing is known about Hope. His age has been estimated by the doctors who are treating him and the name was attributed to him by Anja Loven herself at the time of the discovery: it means "hope" and the hope is that it will bring to this child all the joys that life, at least until today, has denied him.
Despite her tender age, Hope must have spent several months on the road, alone, eating only the garbage and scraps found here and there: most likely, his family abandoned him, convinced that he was a sorcerer, thus condemning him to die of hardship. Unfortunately a frequent practice in some areas of Africa, due to a lethal mix of extreme poverty, ignorance and die-hard superstitions.
It is estimated that, in Nigeria alone, there are about 15.000 children abandoned for witchcraft a year. The NGO founded three years ago by Anja Loven is mainly concerned with these small victims, to save them from the streets and guarantee them a home, education and the necessary medical assistance.
Hope is just the latest in a long list. Found by Loven last January 31, he was taken to the hospital, where he is still hospitalized: her tummy was swollen and full of worms, her little body skeletal. Doctors are subjecting him to treatments to eliminate the worms and to daily transfusions, to bring his values back to normal.
When he is discharged, Hope will be welcomed into the NGO run children's center in Loven. For the moment, the Danish aid worker is documenting his progress on social media: among the shots that portray him, there are some, very tender, in which the child plays with little David jr., Loven's fifteen-month-old son. . The bewilderment that could be read in his eyes at the time of his discovery finally seems to have given way to a shy smile, as if he were gradually recovering trust in humanity.
“Hope's condition is stable now.”- is Anja Loven's comment on some photos posted in recent days on the NGO's Facebook page -“ He manages to take food by himself and responds to treatment. Today she even had the strength to sit up and smile at us. He is a small but strong child. I don't know how to describe it in words. This is what makes life so beautiful and I will let the images do the talking. "
Meanwhile, Hope's terrifying and heartwarming story bounced across social media, sparking a wave of spontaneous emotion: the Danish NGO received donations from all over the world, for a total value of 1 million dollars. With this money, it will be possible to offer the child the best possible care and Anja's dream of building a new home that hosts all the children of the organization will finally come true. In short, a small miracle of solidarity.
But to really do justice to Hope and children like him, innocent victims of a world dominated by inequalities, in which 1% of the population holds more wealth than the remaining 99%, we should remember their existence every single day, and not intermittently, when a story about them goes viral and forces us to face reality.
Lisa Vagnozzi
Photo Credits: Anja Loven-Facebook
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