Anja Ringgren Loven is a true Angel of God #AtoZChallenge

The two year old Nigerian boy was walking around riddled with worms and eating scraps on the road. He was tortured and abandoned for a 'very valid' reason by his parents -he was a witch.

When Anja Ringgren Loven heard about the boy, she drove down to find him. The boy was disoriented and in need of urgent medical attention. As incredulous and disapproving eyes watched, she bent down and fed him water, wrapped him in a blanket and took the toddler to a hospital. The child needed daily blood transfusions merely to survive.

This was not Loven's first encounter in Nigeria. The woman was so distraught when she saw small children being tortured and abandoned for the absurd superstition of being witches that she gave up her home in Denmark, selling everything to help these children in Nigeria.

Along with her partner, the two have rescued 34 children, all of whom live with them now. She started the African Children's Aid Education and Development Foundation aimed at giving the children an education because she knows that education is the key in the fight against superstition

“We work on the human nature that every child in the world has the right to food and education, and to live a dignified life. Our values consist of showing sheer compassion, care and love for those who need it the most and through that create confidence.”

She must be doing something right. A year of selfless love and care from Loven and her extended family of 34 children and the boy in the picture above is now absolutely unrecognizable.

The same child one year on, heading off for his first day of school.

Fittingly, he has got a new name too... Hope.

Why I want you to remember Anja Ringgren Loven

Can you imagine what goes through the mind of a vulnerable toddler thrown out on the streets and denied basic human dignity by an entire village for something the child cannot even understand?

With her acts, Loven is directly saving children abandoned by their parents. She also knows the futility of it unless she changes the mindset and so is working to educate the public against black magic doctors and superstitious beliefs.

If this does not qualify for being a true angel of God - or an angel of a true God - nothing does.

This is part of my #AtoZChallenge where I will be focusing on Real Life Heroes: Shining Examples of Kindness and Compassion. You can find other real-life heroes here.