‘In the documentary “The One With Hope,” you can get a unique insight into Anja’s remarkable life as a Danish aid worker in Nigeria and as the founder of Land of Hope. The organization with Danish roots has rescued and taken custody of – so far – 93 children who have been in the worst imaginable situations you could ever wish for a child.
Anja herself became world-famous in 2016 when a photo of her in front of the little ‘witch child,’ Hope, went viral on the internet.
Millions of people have followed Hope’s story. From when he, at 2 years old, came into Anja’s arms and incredibly survived, even though his little body could take no more. To today, at 10 years old, he is a top student in school, an excellent dancer, and just an ordinary boy who lives, happy and healthy, at the Land of Hope children’s center. He has filled many hearts with gratitude and reflection, making it more important than ever that we put ‘witch children’ on the global agenda and break the curse over Nigeria.’
On the morning of the 30 of January 2016 a Danish documentary team were preparing their equipment to film Land of Hope´s work in Nigeria. We were going on a rescue mission. Two girls were accused of being witches and they were spotted along the river, abandoned and alone. Upon arrival we were escorted to the village chief´s house to inform him about our mission. A group of local community boys also arrived at the house and things suddenly escalated. At that time we were not protected by the police and the situation became hostile so we had to leave. I was so frustrated and angry and refused to give up. But it was impossible for us to do something. It was not safe to stay. But then I remembered a phone call we got earlier the same day. A very young boy was accused of being a witch so we turned the cars and drove to where we would later find Hope. What if things had not escalated that day ? Was it destiny ? No matter what, today is the 30 of January 2024 and it´s exactly 8 years ago we rescued Hope. 8 years of knowing Hope has been an absolute joy. He has changed all of us and I feel very lucky to have been part of his life. Thank you Hope
As the father of a three year old this whole thread sends shivers down my spine. I know there's a lot of suffering in the world of course but I just can't stomach this particular kind of suffering anymore. I don't understand how a parent can even consider abandoning their own child. You have to be a special kind of monster to allow this to happen to them.
I’m not a parent and I have my qualms about raising children of my own, but that first picture absolutely breaks my heart and I’ve never been in a situation like the woman in these photos, but I’d like to believe there’s no power on earth or otherwise that would stop me from helping that poor baby.
I just don’t fucking understand. He is helpless and innocent, what could a fucking TODDLER have done to deserve such unimaginable cruelty?! All he wants is to live a happy life like all of us (the nonpsychopaths, that is) and he’s being shunned like a murderer.
I truly love humanity, but sometimes, that is really put to the test. Because any community that can leave a child to fend for themselves and STARVE openly in the streets is absolutely disgusting and detestably inhuman.
The point is that the child is not perceived as a child. If there was a literal witch-demon prowling your streets, you'd avoid it too. The issue here isn't evil, it's ignorance and misinformation.
Yeah it’s just as bad to demonize these people than to try and understand and make actual large scale changes in culture and fighting against poverty, but ya know just call them evil instead that’s easier.
Yes, the ignorance and misinformation is ultimately caused by poverty. The people in such communities are likely faced with their children dying regularly anyway. Everyone is living with stress and trauma. The issues above are symptoms of a much deeper societal sickness.
I get where you’re coming from. I remember being a teenager and first learning about baby girls being routinely killed at birth in India due to poverty, and China due to the one-child policy. It horrified me and continues to do so. Watching films like “City of Joy” and “Slumdog Millionaire” conveys how unrelentingly cruel poverty can be in some countries and how people are conditioned to do whatever they can to survive.
I’ve come to realize that coming from a richer part of the world like the “west” causes us to see these incidents through a western lens. Most of us cannot possibly fathom the poverty and lack of education and resources that the families of these poor children are born into. Another mouth to feed, especially a female child, could very well spell a death sentence for a poor and illiterate family who are working hand to mouth as it is. It doesn’t ever make it right, and no child should ever be subject to being murdered, abandoned or left to fend for themselves.
It’s easy to demonize the families of these children from where we sit. It’s hard not to. My hope is that organizations that help these children will continue on to do their important work and the governments of these countries will find the resources and political will to help them.
I had the same thought reading this. My little boy is 2.5 and they’re so helpless and adorable at this age. Watching him suffer in any kind of way causes me physical pain and grief.
Anyone who could do something like this is just fundamentally flawed and broken as a human being.
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u/rabbitsarepsychotic 5d ago edited 5d ago
For anyone wondering:
‘In the documentary “The One With Hope,” you can get a unique insight into Anja’s remarkable life as a Danish aid worker in Nigeria and as the founder of Land of Hope. The organization with Danish roots has rescued and taken custody of – so far – 93 children who have been in the worst imaginable situations you could ever wish for a child.
Anja herself became world-famous in 2016 when a photo of her in front of the little ‘witch child,’ Hope, went viral on the internet.
Millions of people have followed Hope’s story. From when he, at 2 years old, came into Anja’s arms and incredibly survived, even though his little body could take no more. To today, at 10 years old, he is a top student in school, an excellent dancer, and just an ordinary boy who lives, happy and healthy, at the Land of Hope children’s center. He has filled many hearts with gratitude and reflection, making it more important than ever that we put ‘witch children’ on the global agenda and break the curse over Nigeria.’
https://landofhope.global/en/product/documentary-on-hbo-max/
ETA - thank you for the awards!