2_1_ScanMag_71_Dec_2014_Text_MADS_Scan Magazine 1 29/11/2014 12:11 Page 21
Scan Magazine | Feature | Din Nødhjælp
Nigeria. She had set up an aid organisation, Dinnoedhjaelp.dk (Your Aid in English), before going, and settled into local life with the help of the rescue workers she first heard of in the documentary. “There were so many feelings in the beginning. As I was went on my first rescue missions to help tortured children I kept wondering ‘can I do this?’ I ate the same amount and kind of food as the children, and hardly ever slept – my body was aching most of the time. Yet, the children lifted me up. I had no desire to be anywhere else than with them – I fell in love with them,” she says affectionately.
“I rescued one of my children after he had been hit with an axe in his head, which almost killed him. He had been accused of witchcraft by his villagers. I will never forget when he told me ‘I don’t see any point in continuing my life’. The loneliness the children feel is the worst bit for me, because they don’t think that anyone will ever love them.”
Anja is able to help many children, but far from enough. There are children dying every day from the torture that comes with being declared a ‘witch child’. Therefore, Anja is reliant on donations to keep helping the children of Akwa Ibom. “Our phones always ring, but we don’t have the capacity to help all the children we need to help. This can result in death. All the money we receive goes straight to the children.”
Creating a safe haven Realising the first thing the children needed after receiving medical care was unconditional love and education, Anja set up her own orphanage for the children she rescued. Today the orphanage cares for 31 children, all of whom are given guidance, love, food and care from educated professionals at the centre – as well as education in nearby schools. Anja calls them all children of her own.
love with education. He loves school. I told him that if he became number one at his next exam, I would buy him a bike. The sound of his voice when he told me he had reached top of his class was the happiest sound I’ve ever heard,” Anja says.
“My future is with these children” With the kind of long-term support that Anja and her seven employees at the orphanage are able to provide, the children prosper. “One of the boys who was rescued from a certain death has fallen in
“I have found my mission. My future is with these children.” For for more information, and to find out how you can help, please visit: www.dinnoedhjaelp.dk
Issue 71 | December 2014 | 21