T ormented by pain from severe internal burns, Amza Kebbie is one of thousands of children in Sierra Leone damaged for life by an aid intervention which went horribly wrong.

It has been five days since the four-year-old boy drank caustic soda, one of the two main ingredients for making soap, after mistaking it for drinking water. The highly corrosive liquid, also known as sodium hydroxide, has stripped the lining of his oesophagus and part of his stomach, causing life changing damage.

He’s now in intensive care, clinging precariously to life. An intravenous drip provides fluids and there’s a nasal cannula that enables him to breathe.…