STRANGE HAPPENINGS

In my quest to improve my knowledge of current affairs, I have begun to read more than just the headlines of newspapers and instead delve into the too tiny, too long, too worded text and orientate my self with the happenings, no matter how obscure, around the world. I have fast begun to appreciate the lengths journalists and photojournalists have to go to obtain scintillating, thought provoking, moving or/and eye-catching stories to maintain their jobs. There is also inherent danger and in some cases psychological trauma that comes with the job.

The picture seen was taken by Kevin Carter during the famine in Sudan in 1994. It shows a young girl desperately crawling towards a United Nations food camp about a kilometer away. The vulture is obviously waiting for its prey to die from exhaustion before it descends on the child. This picture really spoke volumes yet there were no words. It sure brings one down to earth as fast as a rocket launching into space. The first thing you immediately think of is..'What happened to the girl?'. There are no records as to what happened to the girl, all that was ever said was that Kevin left immediately after taking the picture. Whether he left the girl or he left Sudan and what happened to the child is left to one's imagination and what horrible alternative scenarios I have come up with. My trusted Google gave me a little insight into Kevin's life though. A few months later, Kevin Carter committed suicide using carbon monoxide to suffocate himself in his car.

This is definitely a reminder that things could always be worse and that I must always give thanks for whatever blessings come my way. I hope I remember this the next time I grumble over inconsequential things or for example, when Nepa decides to act up and cut the Power although we r in the 20th Century!

Currently donations are being collected at Zenith bank in a fund set up by Dangote for the famine in Niger. They placed an Ad in the paper with this picture as an illustration. Interested people should inquire at Zenith Branches.

The picture won a Pulitzer Prize.