Bombouaka, Togo (West Africa) 2014-2017

Heat, sun and illness… All I see is bodies roaming the Savannah in search of food, shelter and survival… but all there is, is stones and more stones…

Silence.

A lot of children. Most in neglect, with severe and profound physical or intellectual disabilities. Lying down, on the ground. At Saint Louis Orione Centre in Bombouaka. In Togo. In Africa. A strangely silent home that’s provide them specialized and personalized care to try to improve their quality of life.

Children with disabilities (especially girls) are at high risk of physical, emotional and sexual abuse as well as being abandoned by their families. There is a perception on the part of their communities that the disabilities are due to a divine punishment, the result of the sins committed by the parents, of an act of the devil, or that the child is a sorcerer. Minors who suffer from a disability are considered "supernatural", "strangers" or "demons". In some areas of the country, children with cerebral palsy are known as "snakes", as they lie on the ground. These little ones are drowned in the river in rituals "for the serpent to leave."

As it could not be otherwise, social welfare indicators place Togo at the bottom of the planet's human development index (HDI) and it was also considered the least happy country on the planet according to the UN World Happiness Report.