An abandoned toddler who was all skin and bones is now healthy and returned to school. According to CBS News " A year ago Danish aid worker Anja Ringgren Loven was on a mission with her husband in Nigeria to rescue some of the thousands of children abandoned each year after being accused of being a witch.
That's when she first met a little boy who she now calls Hope. The toddler, who was skin and bones at the time, was left for dead by his parents in a small village.
I choose to call him Hope, because right now, we're all hoping that he survives Loven wrote two days after she rescued the boy " (He was) in a village, naked, alone and almost dead"
Loven shared a photo of herself giving water to Hope to raise awareness about the serious problem plaguing the country, and to raise money for the boy's ongoing medical needs. The photo went viral, and Hope's story quickly spread throughout the world. Now, more than a year after the famous photo was taken, the 3-year-old boy is unrecognisable.
"Today its exactly 1 year ago the world came to know a young little boy called Hope, " Loven wrote in a Facebook post post on Jan 30 "This week Hope will start school"
In the updated photo, a heftier Hope was wearing a red jumper, white velcro sneakers and a black pack, taking a sip of water from a bottle - just like he did in the original. The boy's healthy appearance was a welcome surprise to those who heard his story a year ago.
"Glad to see Hope (and all the children) growing up loved, and well fed, happy having fun, and going to school!" one Facebook user wrote.
"The change is amazing and he is a wonderful little boy with so much character in him," another commented.
Hope lives with 35 other children in an orphanage run by Loven and her husband, David Emmanuel Umem, in Eket Nigeria-and his story is continuing to help dozens of other children just like him.
