HOPE! The story of a Nigerian 'witch boy' and his rescuer that will move you to tears

Abuja: This is a story that is bound to move you to tears.

In January this year, a picture of Danish philanthropist Anja Ringgren Lovén offering water and biscuits to a highly malnourished child on the streets of Nigeria was widely shared on social media.

Lovén had found the child, named Hope (two-year-old), in January and he was, as pictures confirm, was on the brink of starvation.

The child had been left on the streets by his parents after being branded a 'witch' and not one from the community came to his rescue.

When Lovén found Hope, he was riddled with worms.

The aid worker then decided to adopt Hope and he is now being taken care of by the African Children’s Aid Education and Development Foundation (ACAEDF), which Lovén had co-founded with her husband David.

Lovén has now shared new pictures and those reveal a complete transformation of the malnourished child, that too in a matter of weeks.

Lovén wrote on her Facebook page that the boy will soon undergo corrective surgery to treat hypospadias, “an inborn condition in which one has an incomplete developed urethra”.

“This is an operation the doctors have performed many times, so [he] will be fine,” Lovén added.

“As you can see on the pictures Hope is really enjoying his life now having 35 new brothers and sisters who ALL take such good care of him, play with him, study with him, and make sure he is safe and is getting a lot of love,” she wrote further.

A campaign earlier had raised more than $1 million for Hope.

Lovén is reported to have said earlier that she had given up everything in Denmark to start a foundation for Nigeria’s so-called “witch children”.

As per her, the so-called “witch children” are “ tortured and beaten almost to death because they were accused of being witches and therefore left alone on the street”.