Heading home.....

Well its about 7:00 pm here in Nigeria and we are on our way to the airport. We fly out soon. We fly to Amsterdam and then to Chicago. We are all very excited to be back home. It was a life changing trip for many of us! Looking back some of my favorite things has been the service work (working in villages, playing with children, meeting wonderful Nigerian people). We have made friendships that will last a lifetime and many of us will be back to Africa again I'm sure. I know I will. Right before I left for this trip I had a friend tell me "Africa gets in your blood." How true that is! I love the people here and plan to be back many times to help those that need it---especially the children. Our team leader, Elise told the group during a meeting that,"the only difference between American children and african children is ONE thing---OPPORTUNITY!" How true that is.

We will all do our best to be the voice for these people that need our help. Rotary is a wondrful organization that we can partner with to do this!

Thank you all for following. I might post a few more times and then will post pictures when I get home. Thank you for all the comments and prayers. It got me through during the tough times. Love you all!

Kelli

winding down...

Today is Friday and our last day here in Africa! I can't believe how fast it has gone. The team is a little tired and emotionally drained from the entire experience. It will be nice to be back on US soil. I also know I can't wait to eat American food! I've lost some weight while I've been here as have many of the team members. I just can't get used to their spicy food! And one can only eat so much chicken and rice! :) The other day after I was under the weather someone offered me chicken and rice and I almost threw up when I smelled it! :) I'm thankful for all the food we have in America! This thanksgiving and ones to come will always be more meaningful to me after this experience.

Yesterday we traveled 3 hours from the Yankari game reserve back to Jos for 2 more days of work. The drive went fast and we visited 2 sites yesterday afternoon. The first was a school for the blind. It is absolutely amazing how resilient the people there are. Most are adults learning a type of trade they can use to prosper in their upcoming years. They need a well and supplies so we looked at meeting those needs. We also presented them with a few gifts. They were so happy and thankful. Its hard enough to see how poor the people in Africa are but then to see them with a disability like blindness. I know they must get their strength from God or they wouldn't be able to continue. I've learned so many lessons on this trip and on our way back from the school of the blind I learned another....I have been blessed with so much. What am I going to do with all the talents and abilities God has given me? Am I going to use them to benefit myself like I've been doing or use them to be a voice for those less fortunate? Well I decided right then and there that is exactly what I'm going to do. God made me with a little fire in my belly and I will use it to do more for others. I am so excited to come back and light the fire in others to help the people of Africa...especially Nigeria!

After we left the school of the blind we went to another orphanage. Now I've said in other blogs before how difficult this is for me. I knew this would be no different. We arrived at the orphanage to help with some project work. After that was finished we went to visit the children to give them beanie-babies! They loved their babies we gave them. They just held on to them for dear life. One child tried right away to take another child's beanie and a small fight broke out! :) it was cute though--they already were so protective of their gift we had given them! They also love to be held and they love all the attention. When we were getting ready to leave they hold on to your pants or cry or both. That is so hard for me! I walked out of the orphanage once again with tears running down my face! I hate leaving them there!!!

However I know I will be back someday and when I come back it will be to provide them with even more. I hope when I come back they all have been adopted!! That would make me so happy.

Okay I'll send a couple more blogs throughout the day on Fridays activities as well as some funny stories I still need to share. Keep checking the blog these next few days and thank you ALL for the prayers and kind words. They have helped me through this experience as many of you know it hasn't been easy!

Love you all!

Kelli

Safari...

This morning we got up early to go on an early morning safari. There is something very surreal about driving out in the jungle where there are elephants and lions roaming freely! So cool. We drove around for about an hour and a half and all we saw were birds--which were beautiful but no big animals. We are going to head back out for an evening safari later on and our guides tell us we are more likely to see the lions, elephants, etc tonight!! We are excited about that.

The rest of the day we are going to relax and all take a dip in the natural spring here on the grounds. Its like a natural "hot tub." :)

I will keep everyone posted about the evening safari. We hope to see some cool things.

Yankari Game Reserve..

Today we are taking 2 days to spend time at the Yankari Game Reserve about 2 hours east of Jos Nigeria. Its one of the largest game reserves in Africa. We are all very excited to have a few days to see the beautiful animals, etc. Several people on our trip have gone there before and says its amazing. We need some time to relax before finishing off the week working at schools, orphanages, and visiting other potential project sites. I will keep everyone updated on how the safaris go. We are going on an early morning safari tomorrow and an evening safari tonight. I hope to have cell service on my blackberry so I can blog. If I don't I'll be sure to catch everyone up on Thursday when we all get back to Jos.

Kelli

Orphanage visit...

Greetings blog followers. Today is Monday here in Nigeria. Its been a tough day for me. First I woke up and the food has finally gotten to me----many trips to the bathroom facilities. They say it will happen eventually. We are just not used to the food. I have meds I brought from the US that will wipe it all out within a day. Pray I get my strength back.

We went on a orphanage visit today to see what needs the facility and children had. It was such a hard thing for me to see. There were about 15 children there. One child really touched my heart. He was craving attention and after we brought gifts for them we were about to leave. As we were saying our goodbyes he would not let go of my leg. It was so hard. I cried a lot and am still having a hard time. I want so badly to take them all home with me, however I know that is not possible. I'm going to have to really work hard when I get back to raise money and team up with Rotary to help these children as much as we can! They deserve it! I love them so much and will work hard to be their voice.

That's all for now. Thank you for the prayers. We have been here now for over a week and many of us feel emotionally and physically drained. Keep lifting us up so we can help these people of Nigeria...they need us!

Church

Today is Sunday and our team got up and went to a local church here in Jos. It was so refreshing to hear the Nigerian people sing and worship. Very cool!

Its hard to describe the atmosphere in this place. But I'll do my best to describe church today...

We got their and walked in and sang several songs. Then the pastor gave the sermon and it was so awesome. The team and I discussed after church how we thought it was directed towards us. The pastor talked about having patience! It spoke to many of us bc its been hard for us to be away from our families and with people we don't know very well for 2 weeks. However God does things in his own time so we have to remember that when becoming impatient.

 We then had communion and church was done. It was a very meaningful service to me...as I looked around the church I saw many white people in the crowd. I later learned this church was where many missionaries that work in Nigeria go to church. Wow! I couldn't imagine doing this all the time. Its been hard enough for me to do it for 2 weeks. I just have the most respect for these people and will continue to pray for them. I met several of them after the service and of course they are the most loving people you will ever meet. I was happy I got to meet and visit with them!

We are relaxing, doing laundry, journaling, etc the rest of the day until we start back to work tomorrow!

Cheeseburger in Paradise!

On Saturday most of the day we traveled from Kaduna to Jos which was about a 4 hour drive. That can be brutal when its 95 degrees outside and they don't believe in air conditioning here! :)

After we arrived we were greeted by several Nigerian Rotarians and they took us to lunch in Jos.

Jos is much cooler climate than Kaduna. Probably close to 10 degrees cooler. I noticed the difference right away. It seems much nicer here---don't sweat all the time. We are going to really enjoy that.

Jos also has less Muslim population and more Christians. However, we were told that a year ago there were some uprisings in this area between several tribes. About 400 people were killed! We go everywhere with guards. We feel very safe and they take very good care of us. I have never felt like I was in any danger here.

Anyway....we were taken to lunch and it was a lebonese restaurant and they served food we recognized! I have never been so excited as when I saw they had a CHEESEBURGER and fries!!! I was in heaven. No more rice for a change. :) Most of us got a burger and fries and a soda. It was the best. I was so happy.

After lunch we came back to our rooms and got ready for a meeting with fellow Rotarians. We went to that and enjoyed fellowship with them. Its always so interesting to meet the Nigerian people and sit and talk with them. I always ask a lot of questions to help understand their culture. They always explain things so well to help us understand. While at fellowship we had the honor of meeting a retired 4 star general of Nigeria. That would be like the equivalent of meeting Colin Powell from the US. It was pretty cool. Much of our trip we have met many significant people from this country bc they respect what Rotary International is trying to do for their country.

After fellowship we headed to bed. It was a good day. Tomorrow is Sunday and we will be attending church and resting the rest of the day before we start working in villages and orphanages on Monday and Tuesday.

Motorcycles

So I thought I would take some time to tell you about the motorcycles here in Nigeria. Its been one of the most interesting things to see here. I know that sounds odd but I've never seen anything quite like these.

Because its very hard to earn enough money to buy a small car many Nigerians have little motorcycles they ride around on. So in the city of Kaduna there are literally thousands of motorcycles all over the road. The funniest thing about that is they use them not only for transportation but for hauling goods as well. So far we've seen the following.

1. Goats being carried on them

2. A mattress being carried

3. A man sleeping on his seat of the motorcycle.

4. And the best one---SIX people on one motorcycle. Several were children but still that's a lot!!

Its a sight to see! I'm going to try to get a picture of one and upload to facebook for you all to see!

Stay tuned...

Herding Cats

Today we are getting ready to depart to 2 different locations....half the team is going to Kano, Nigeria to visit possible projects to support and the other half, including myself is going to Jos, Nigeria to look at other possible projects in that area. We feel we can accomplish more by splitting up. We will then all meet up on Tuesday again.

However to try to get Nigerians to do anything organized is like herding cats. Its  complete chaos all the time when they are trying to arrange transportation, food, etc. It drives us Americans NUTS! So we have the slogan that its like herding cats---pretty much impossible! Then they get to speaking in their native language really fast and we have no idea what is going on bc they just bitch back and forth at each other!! Its actually very entertaining if you can imagine. :) That's all for now, I thought I would share because I've been standing around and waiting for the past hour while the Nigerians try to heard cats!! :)

Nigerian Dancing...

Hi everyone! Well tonight we had a wonderful night of fellowship. Remember we are 7 hours ahead of central time so its about 10:00 pm here.

Its our last night in Kaduna before we leave tomorrow morning for our next adventure. Half the team is going to Jos tomorrow and half will go to Kano. Both are in northern Nigeria. So before we left the Nigerian Rotarians wanted to have a time for fellowship and dance. Wow!! Nigerians can dance! It was so cool watching them move on the dance floor while us "white folk" stood by on awe! Todd tried to keep up but failed! :) It was so neat to experience their music and culture. They are so happy and friendly all the time. They were pulling us out to dance and making us feel so welcome even though I felt like I could never stack up to those Nigerian dance moves!

We had a great time and now we are all heading home to get some rest for our long trip up north tomorrow.

I'll have some road time tomorrow so I will post a few more blogs about our upcoming plans!

Cindi Bauer

I decided that my blog would not be complete without a couple stories about my teammate Cindi.

Cindi is in her mid-fifties and is the MOST energetic and upbeat person I've ever met. She is so friendly the Nigerians just love her!

A funny story about her was when we arrived in Africa she thanked everyone numerous times for everything....so the joke is that she says thank you so much and we are not even sure half the people here understand her.

One night she was staying with her host family for the last night before we moved on and she kept thanking them saying, "thank you so much, thank you so much." Finally a little 5 year old daughter of the host family came up to her and said, "what does thank you so much mean!" Hehehehe----its hard to tell the story in words but it was funny. She is a hoot! Very fun to have on this trip bc when we get down or upset by something we see she is upbeat and positive! Love that about her.

More to come...

Dr. Weber and Dr. Hennessey

I want to write a quick blog about the doctors that are on this trip. We have 2 doctor/dentist on this trip that have worked nonstop in the hospital here in Kaduna, Nigeria. They are so awesome. They have given up 2 weeks of their time in their own practice to come here and do what they can. I know its been so hard for them simply because they don't have the correct equipment to work with patients. That has to be frustrating. They have not complained one time they just continue to give of themselves and help save lives.

I know they have had several tough days. They have seen many deaths and that has to be difficult! Please pray for the doctors on this trip to give them strength they need to help heal.

I talked to Dr. Weber yesterday and he was so frustrated because he has seen so many skin diseases and can only give them a small tube of medicine....that is all that is available! So like he said he's sure the tube of medicine won't do much---frustrating!

However, through it all they are positive and upbeat all the time! They are doing a lot of teaching so hopefully that will help the doctors do a better job here!

Teammates

I wanted to be sure I wrote about several of the people that are on this trip with me because I want everyone to know how incredibly awesome these people are! So what I'm going to do is blog throughout the day about several of them at a time!

First I want to tell ya about my roommate, Jennie! Jennie is actually not a Rotarian like the rest of us but a journalist from Illinois. She has 2 small kids at home and has been an inspiration to me this trip. She is an amazing writer and shares some of her writings with me about this trip! Let me tell ya, she is going to write one kickass story when we get back. She has just jumped into the culture and accepted the way it is here---truly fearless.

The day that sticks out in my mind about Jennie is when we arrived in Kaduna, Nigeria and were shown where we would be staying the next 4 days----it was probably my lowest point of the trip...I was feeling homesick, culture shock, etc and then I was upset about the place we were staying bc it was so gross and no showers (basically feeling sorry for myself). Then in walked Jennie! She was also very upset but holding it together better than I. I broke down and just started crying. Wondering what the hell I got myself in to. I'll never forget when she started talking to me about how much of a difference we are making for these children. Its just wanted I needed---a good "pep talk" to get me inspired again! 

She's helped me a lot along the way. To be honest I'm not sure I would still be here without her. She keeps things in perspective for me and has been an inspiration through her words and actions. I can't wait to read her story and see her pictures when we get back.

That's all for now, I'll write more soon--time for breakfast---you guessed it....RICE!! :)

Check out my facebook page for pictures....my blackberry that I'm using to blog with won't let me upload pics to my blog but facebook will.

Kelli

duck, duck, goose....

Hi followers! Today was yet again another successful day. We got up around 6:00 am and had breakfast as a team. I had a scoop of oatmeal and a piece of bread. The main item was toast with a fish mix on it. I'm just not that brave yet and didn't try it. However a few of the guys had it and said it wasn't bad. After breakfast we went out to a remote village to help fix desks and provide supplies to the children. I know I've said this many times but working in that village was one of the most rewarding things I've ever done in my life!!!

We first arrived and met the children at their school (the worst looking building you can imagine) and removed all their desks and fixed them. They were in desperate need for it. While the desks were being reassembled several of us took the kids (about 150 of them) and went to play games. Now let me tell ya---playing games with kids that don't speak my language and don't understand the game is very challenging! :) not to mention that most of them were scared of me bc they had never seen a white girl! However, we got through it and had an awesome time! By the time we left we were playing duck, duck, goose and singing and dancing! A successful day.

Tomorrow we will be doing much of the same stuff. I will be blogging soon about several of the team members! They are all just so awesome and I need to tell you all about them. I believe God chose just the right people to join me on this trip. They have been so supportive and encouraging!! So stay tuned for that blog---lots of funny moments!

Kelli

Mental Toughness

Well there are a few items I forgot to share in my last blog. Its sometimes overwhelming and hard to remember it all in one sitting.

So I thought I knew what being mentally tough was all about--let me tell ya---i had no idea! After 5 days in Africa I'm beginning to understand! :) so as I posted before our living conditions are less than mediocre. I was walking back to my "bunk" tonight after dinner and I'm staying on a the 2nd floor of a building when I walked in the door and started up the steps 2 huge brown rats came running down the stairs. Now I wasn't sure if I should scream, cry, run or what!!! So I just stood there frozen as they zipped by me! Ugh! I think after all I've seen here I'm just a little numb. I'm almost positive I could handle anything thrown at me at this point.

I'm trying to really use this time to grow as a person and really focus on OTHERS! I think so often in our society its all about ME ME ME! Me included. So, each day I reflect back on what I did for others, how much it meant to them and pray for the strength to do it all over again the next day! I KNOW that in10 days I get to come back to a wonderful and blessed life. The people here do not! This IS their life and I'm here to help make it a little better for them. They are such hard working, loving people and God loves them as much as everyone else! So thankful for this experience to serve.

That's all for now I'm sure more thoughts will come soon!

Kelli

Immunization clinic/villages

Today was a very productive day for the team and I. We started the day bright and early at 8:00 with an immunization clinic at St Gerards hospital. When we arrived there were over 100 women and their babies ready to be vaccinated for polio. For those of you who don't know, polio still exists in Africa.

When I walked into that hospital room this morning I don't think I could have ever imagined how the people from Nigeria could touch my heart. They have the most beautiful babies and some of them only days old. They were so gracious for the help to keep their babies strong and healthy. I'm not going to lie, I wanted to take them all home with me---so adorable. I spent most of the morning visiting with mothers and holding babies after we immunized.

After we were finished we went out to a remote village in Kaduna...I can't remember the name. A rotary club from the US has partnered with them to drill a borehole (its like a well) so the village has drinking water. This was one of those moments I wanted to immediately start crying when I saw the living conditions! This project started a few years back and we were going to see the progress they have made. It all started when a member of rotary asked if we could come into the village and do a polio clinic for them---he refused! When they sat down to ask why his response was, "why would I do a polio clinic for these children when over 40 percent die before the age of 5!!!! The reason is bc they have no clean drinking water, they were drinking the same water the cows and goats went to the bathroom in! Can you even imagine! So...that is when Rotary stepped in and raised money for the well project! It was so awesome to see how happy these people are! They are thriving with clean drinking water and we are now working on getting them a better school house! So awesome!

After we left the village we had lunch (of course rice and chicken--that is all we eat here--breakfast lunch and dinner!) :) then had the rest of the evening off.

I can't describe how hot it is here--probably close to 90 degrees everyday in the shade. All I do is sweat and drink water!

I'm going to hit the sack now. Its been a very long but productive day. Will post more tomorrow! Thank you for all the prayers and encouraging words. They seem to always come at the right time--God knows what he's doing!

Kelli

Kaduna

Today we arrived in Kaduna after a 3 hour bus ride. And not like a bus ride in America--much more frightening! :) they drive crazy here! there has been more than one occasion I thought I was going to die! Jk

Its been a very hard day for me and the team! Today was the first day I really broke down and sobbed uncontrolably! After visiting several villages and seeing the children I just couldn't stop crying. Its forever touched my heart! They are the cutest children and so happy all the time! I hug as many of them as I can and they love to touch my skin. As I indicated earlier many of them have never seen a white person.

We got back from the villages and we are staying at St Gerards hospital here in the city. I'm going to be honest when I say its the worst place I've ever stayed in my life. Its so hot here and we have no showers or electricity much of the time! Its been hard getting used to but we will survive. I know that God is using me to do so much good in these peoples lives the least I can do is give up showering and electricity for 2 weeks! Its so worth it to see the children happy!

Tomorrow we are going to visit more villages to habd out much needed supplies and toys for the children. I'm excited for that. We also have a polio vaccination clinic tomorrow. that will be cool.

Again to all my followers---please keep praying for me and the team! I'm told it will just be harder from this point forward. Love you all!

Kelli

Kaduna

Today we arrived in Kaduna after a 3 hour bus ride. And not like a bus ride in America--much more frightening! :) they drive crazy here! there has been more than one occasion I thought I was going to die! Jk

Its been a very hard day for me and the team! Today was the first day I really broke down and sobbed uncontrolably! After visiting several villages and seeing the children I just couldn't stop crying. Its forever touched my heart! They are the cutest children and so happy all the time! I hug as many of them as I can and they love to touch my skin. As I indicated earlier many of them have never seen a white person.

We got back from the villages and we are staying at St Gerards hospital here in the city. I'm going to be honest when I say its the worst place I've ever stayed in my life. Its so hot here and we have no showers or electricity much of the time! Its been hard getting used to but we will survive. I know that God is using me to do so much good in these peoples lives the least I can do is give up showering and electricity for 2 weeks! Its so worth it to see the children happy!

Tomorrow we are going to visit more villages to habd out much needed supplies and toys for the children. I'm excited for that. We also have a polio vaccination clinic tomorrow. that will be cool.

Again to all my followers---please keep praying for me and the team! I'm told it will just be harder from this point forward. Love you all!

Kelli

Tuesday....

Today is Tuesday and we are on our way this morning to Kaduna, Nigeria. We had a change in plan and the team is going to St. Gerards hospital. We will be meeting with leaders there to assess the needs of the hospital. Also there is an orphanage as part of the hospital so we will be visiting the children and bringing them gifts. I'm excited for the day today. I will blog at the end of the day to let everyone know how it went.

Kelli

A Good Day.....

I realize I already posted today but now that I'm laying in bed so many things are going through my head that I forgot to write. :) first, the purpose of today was to go out to remote villages outside Abuja to see where Rotary International can give money for projects such as water systems, sewer systems, schools, hospitals, etc. Each place we visited would meet us with their "chief" to tell us why we should consider their village over others, obviously bc we can not afford to fund all the requests. So when our team gets back to the US we will decide with fellow Rotarians where the money should go.

Its sad for me because each village needs something so badly that it will be hard to turn some down.

I want to TRY to explain to you what's its like in these villages with extreme poverty. I've never seen anything like it before. There is raw sewage all over the place and trash, etc scattered everywhere. Kids only wear about half their clothes with many running around naked! :) doesn't seem to bother them at all---although if I lived in 90 degree heat I might think about it too! As I stated before, the children are so happy! They LOVE to have their pictures taken. They will shove each other to be in the photo! A few fights broke out ove this! :)

Please pray for the people here! They are just like you and I and are trying to make a better life for themselves and their families! Tomorrow we are leaving Abuja for Kano which is further north. I will blog about out day tomorrow at some point---keep following! Thank you for your thoughts and parayers while we do so much great work here!

Kelli

village visits...

Today is almost over---remember we are 7 hours ahead of everyone in the midwest. Today we met with Nigerian Rotarians to discuss funding and projects they need assistance with. Then after our meeting and lunch we went out to many of the surrounding villages to see how great the need is. Wow! What an eye opening experience! These people in the little villages are so poor. However something I witnesses was their happiness and joy. Even though they have very little material items they are so joyful! I need to remember this when complaining about something so small.

The greatest joy we had today was playing and visiting with the children. They just melt my heart. I asked to hold one of the small children and the mother agreed. However when I went to motion for her to come to me her mouth dropped open and she was in aw! I assumed she had never seen a white woman. :)

We are on our way to dinner so I will try write more later. I wish I could post pictures but since I'm blogging from my phone it makes it very hard. Check out my facebook page as well---i have been able to uplaod some pics!

Kelli

soccer/futbol :)

Today we just got done meeting with fellow rotarians to discuss needs in the Nigerian area. We will go out to these areas and see first hand the need in the outer areas of this country. They tell me to be prepared it will be unlike anything I've ever seen before. After we ate lunch and visited my host family picked me up and I joined them for a local soccer (futbol) game at the school.

It was so cool to see all the little children playing soccer. Not sure what we are doing tonight...will keep everytone posted..one thing I've learned here is they "fly by the seat of their pants!" Drives me nuts of course!

Kelli

Different World....

Now that my blackberry is somewhat working I want to post as much info as I can before technical dofficulties start again. :) As I stated in my last post I'm staying with the Amasi family here in Nigeria. They are the most giving people! I've come to learn we have no idea what hospitality is truly about. They are trying so hard to help me comfortable even tho its very obvious they have so little.

When I got up this morning they told me I could take a shower---as you can imagine I was soooo happy to hear those words..since its been about 2 days since my last shower. I come to find out a shower means 2 gallons of semi-warm water in a bucket---eek! I just keep telling myself I can do this!!! Its all about attitude! Again another reason I've become so thankful for all I have!

The people here are also very intrigued with my hair! They love my blonde hair....I've been asked many times is they can touch it, braid it, comb it, etc!!! So funny!

Well, we are getting ready for lunch---thats always interesting as well. I eat a lot of bread and rice to say the least! Just trying to maintain my weight here! Thanks for the prayers--luv you all!

Kelli

Abuja, Nigeria---we have arrived!

Greetings! I arrived in Abuja, Nigeria last night late. The people here are so kind. I'm staying with a host family in the capital city until we go out to the villages to do our work. The Amasi family has 2 small boys that are very excited to have me stay. They have never had a white guest in their home so the boys are excited about that I'm told. :) They stare at me a lot :)

We will be going out to villages the next 3 days here doing medical work with Polio vaccinations,etc. I will keep everyone updated as the week goes on. Reception is sketchy so there might be days I cannot post--will do my best and thank you for the continued prayers!

Kelli

test

Having trouble getting postings to work----this is a test.

Kelli

The team.....

The team has assembled here in Chicago and are getting ready to board the plane to Amsterdam. We have about an 8 hour flight. :( I'm all cozied up to the passenger next to me---he is a doctor so I'll be in good hands! I will be attaching pictures shortly so keep checking the blog. Thanks for the continued prayers for our missions in Nigeria! We are all so excited to serve!

Kelli

Why Africa?

I wanted to share this with my blog followers today........When I first learned about my trip to Africa I did alot of research on the internet and this story below is one that touched my heart. I will NEVER forget this image and it is the exact reason why I want to help others less fortunate than myself. Read below.....and please continue to pray for me and my team when we depart in 3 days!!

Thanks
Kelli

A vulture watches a starving child

The prize-winning image: A vulture watches a starving child in southern Sudan, March 1, 1993. Carter's winning photo shows a heart-breaking scene of a starving child collapsed on the ground, struggling to get to a food center during a famine in the Sudan in 1993. In the background, a vulture stalks the emaciated child. Carter was part of a group of four fearless photojournalists known as the "Bang Bang Club" who traveled throughout South Africa capturing the atrocities committed during apartheid. Haunted by the horrific images from Sudan, Carter committed suicide in 1994 soon after receiving the award.