It is sad how people treat someone who looks or acts differently than them. That is what Zanziman Ellie from Rwanda, East Africa had to face as he suffers from microcephaly, where a baby is born with a small head.
His appearance and stunted mental ability led his villagers to outcast him, for which he had to retreat to the forest. It is this disorder that earned him the nickname “real-life Mowgli”.
For more than a decade, the 21-year-old has been feeding on grass. The boy cannot speak and has difficulty hearing, and thus he couldn’t get any formal education.
Tables turned when Afrimax TV, an Africa-based online channel, reached out to the boy and his mother. They filmed a documentary on Ellie and his mom, showing his anomaly and how his mother has nurtured him so far.
In the visuals, the mom describes that while the villagers mocked and bullied her only child, she considers him a “miracle” as she lost five children before him. Devastated by the loss of their children, she and her husband pleaded with God for a son, going as far as even asking for an “abnormal child as long as he wouldn’t die.” When Ellie was born, they did not leave any efforts to safeguard and raise him, but poverty came in the way.
The documentary makers attached the video with a GoFundMe campaign to help Ellie and his mother lead a dignified life. Soon after, the charity page received donations from all over the world.
Today, Ellie has been enrolled at a special needs school in the Ubumwe Community Center, Gisenyi, Rwanda, where he has made many friends. He wears a suit regularly and attends classes daily along with his friends.
The chap has become quite the local celebrity in his village after the documentary aired and is often visited by people on the streets who want to take pictures with him.
To date, there is no test or treatment for microcephaly. But it can be diagnosed only by measuring the baby’s head 24 hours after its birth. However, sometimes it can be picked up during scans later on during pregnancy. It can cause seizures, developmental delay, intellectual disability, hearing loss, and vision problems.