One tiny boy. One huge story. Helping Antoine

8th February 2026

At Wild Images we are constantly in awe of the kindness our guests collectively show on our tours – whether it is simple gestures like helping kids to sketch or play games like “Ring-a-ring-a-rosie” in the dirt, or through donating thoughtful items to communities after consultations with community elders, over the years we have acted in so many small ways to change lives, even if it is just through fleeting moments.  

During our tour to Benin in 2022, we found ourselves with a group who not only held strong medical backgrounds, they were also very philanthropy driven.  On a warm summer’s day we were in the north of the country, exploring the local Waaba (pronounced “Wama”) culture when we noticed a little boy who had been dressed up by his mother to join in a celebratory dance.  He had the worst case of Genu varum (congenital bow legs) that any of us had ever seen.  He was only three years old and we quickly realized that without medical care, he would have faced a life of crippling pain. He would have struggled to walk and he wasn’t able to play with other children easily.  His name was Antoine and we all adored him.

We quickly rallied to assess his situation in greater detail.  We talked to his family, medical specialists and our fantastic local guide, Assou, to see if there was something we could do collectively to help him. We discovered that his parents were not able to afford to have his legs corrected and, after a huge amount of consultation with them, we began to work on a plan.

It’s a sad fact of life that there are still specialists in Benin who are skilled at treating polio, but in Antoine’s case this proved to be fortuitous.  We found a specialist surgeon in Lokossa and between us, we donated enough money for Antoine to travel south and have his legs effectively re-broken, re-set and cured. 

We also donated enough funds for him to undergo intensive physiotherapy for three months and for his family to temporarily relocate with him while he did so.

At a specialist facility in Lokossa, learning to walk with his legs reset.

While he was undergoing physiotherapy he still needed to walk with his legs in braces so they would begin to grow straight again.

In the years that followed we closely monitored his progress.  He not only regained his strength again, he had started to play with other kids and was walking like a normal little boy.

We visited him and his family again on tour in 2023 and we have recently visited him again on our 2026 trip.  In between we’ve had updates both from our guide and his family.

Each year we receive many requests for help during our tours to Africa.  Quite often it is difficult for us to do so through the vagaries of the banking systems, taxation difficulties, distribution of funds and a plethora of other reasons.  We simply cannot help everyone who asks.  Just sometimes, however, the suns and stars align and we can.  It is through the help of so many people, doctors, our guide, NGOs and community that we moved mountains to help this warm little boy get his life back.

Assou showing us he can walk properly again. (He couldn’t pronounce “Inger” well so instead of being asked to say “Bonsoir Inger” he made up “Busanke”. He is such a lovely little boy!

At Wild Images we try to give back where we can.  Other projects we have engaged in include building school desks, helping young people finish their education and we have sunk wells to help communities in need. Each time we embark on a project, we consult heavily with the community involved as our first priority.  Then we try to create a framework whereby donations can be received and passed on directly to small projects, with little to no administrative costs.  Our cherished network of local NGOs then work closely with us and the communities to deliver projects which we often make small detours to visit when we return.

It is our nature to try and walk gently through the cultures we visit.  Giving back is not just a part of our story, it is at the heart of everything we do. In Antoine’s case, we quite literally moved mountains to help a tiny boy get a better life.  Just watching him walk and play like a normal little boy has made it all worthwhile.

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who donated to help Antoine, our incredible team in Benin, the doctors of the specialist hospital in Lokossa, our wonderful leader Ingrid Koedood and most of all, to Antoine’s family who kindly gave us permission to share his photos and story.

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