This 2-year-Old Almost Starved To Death After Village Deemed Him A ‘Witch’
You don’t want to knock other cultures’ beliefs, whether it’s in gods, witches, or ghosts, but if you’re going to let a kid starve to death because of those beliefs, someone has to step in.
A 2-year-old boy was shunned by his Lagos, Nigeria community after they deemed him a witch. It’s actually illegal to label a kid a witch in Nigeria, but that didn’t stop this village from neglecting this young boy and letting him starve. The poor kid was homeless, without parents, and had no real means to get food other than scraps.
When Anja Ringgren Lovén, of the African Children’s Aid, Education and Development Foundation found the malnourished boy, he could barely stand up as she took him in, gave him water, and helped save his life.
Anja works specifically to help find, feed, and nurse these children who are labeled “witches” because it is still a very common thing in African cultures. According to Anja’s charity group Dinnoedhjaelp.dk, once a kid is deemed a witch, there’s “no way back,” unless there is a successful exorcism performed. If anyone even tries to care for the kid, they risk not only their lives, but the kid can be beheaded, tortured, buried alive or burned.
In early February, the boy, who Loven named Hope, was discharged from the hospital and looks to be a lot happier, as he’s been properly fed and actually gained some weight.
It’s crazy to think this stuff actually happens in the world, but at least in Hope’s case, there was a happy ending.
