In 2016, Danish aid worker Anja Ringgren Lovén was photographed giving water to a severely emaciated 2-year-old boy, who she rescued after he was branded a witch by his family and left to starve to death in Akwa-Ibom State.
The child wandered the streets for months when Anja got a phone call and immediately led a rescue team, including her husband, David Emmanuel Umem.
On Thursday, January 30, 2020, Anja posted new photos of the boy, Hope, to mark the anniversary.
She described Hope as a “very strong, intelligent, funny and beautiful young boy who despite all odds, survived” and despite his young age, knows that hate is too great a burden to bear.
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She wrote in part: “Today is the 30 of January 2020, and today is exactly 4 years ago we rescued Hope. I think most people in the world has seen or heard about the famous picture of Hope and I, where I kneel down in front of his starving, malnourished body to give him water.
I don´t want to share the picture today. Instead, I want to share pictures of Hope how he looks like today, 4 years after the rescue. A very strong, intelligent, funny and beautiful young boy who despite all odds, survived! Hope has seen the famous picture of him and I many times. He will point at himself to say that it’s him on the picture, and then he will smile as if he was proud. But I know it’s not about pride. Children are born with the ability to forgive. Children are born with no prejudices. It is when children are taught what to think and not how to think, we fail as a society.”
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