In 2016, Anja Ringgren Loven found an extremely malnourished child aimlessly walking around a street in Nigeria. Loven decided to take the starving child with her who was left by her parents to starve and die because they thought he was a ‘witch.’
Now, the boy, named Hope, can be seen looking much more fuller and about to go to school.
Loven wrote a post on Facebook:
"On the 30th of January 2016, I went on a rescue mission with David Emmanuel Umem, Nsidibe Orok, and our Nigerian team. A rescue mission that went viral, and today it's exactly one year ago, that the world came to know a young little boy called Hope. This week Hope will start school."
Loven, who’s a charity worker, found Hope when he was only two years old in January 2016. According to Loven, the boy was walking around looking for food to eat and living off leftovers and in the streets. He spent eight months aimlessly and without any parental supervision.
As seen in the photo, Loven let the boy drink from a water bottle and began feeding him. After that, she wrapped the boy in a blanket and immediately took him to the nearest hospital to prevent him from dying.
Hope was given treatment to remove the parasites from his body. He was also given blood transfusions every day to introduce red blood cells again into his body, according to Loven.
Loven then asked the entire community around the worlds to fund Hope’s very expensive medical bills. After two days, she managed to acquire more than one million dollars.
Eight weeks after proper medication and consistent healthy diet, Hope dramatically changed in terms of his physicality and happiness.
Loven founded the African Children’s Aid Education and Development Foundation three years ago, in order to aid children who had been abandoned by their parents for believing that these kids were ‘witches.’
Loven wrote a post on Facebook two months after she rescued Hope, “Thousands of children are being accused of being witches and we've both seen torture of children, dead children and frightened children. With all the money, we can, besides giving Hope the very best treatment, now also build a doctor clinic on the new land and save many more children out of torture.”
Loven is accompanied by her husband, David Emmanuel Umem, in building an orphanage last year’s January. The couple is very active on social media in terms of updating others regarding the conditions of the children under their care.
