I am originally from Israel, and have lived in the US since August 1999. I've been living in NYC now for 7+ years (and plan to move to North Carolina soon). I recently graduated from Baruch College, where I majored in public affairs and finally established the KCA College Chapter @ Baruch, after a long struggle to make it happen and form an official club. I am very happy that I was able to get the club going and gain support from devoted peers, as well as raise initial awareness and funds prior to my graduation.

As part of the Good Cents Initiative last year, I wrote an essay, discussing how our KCA club can make a difference on campus by inspiring peers to become involved with Keep A Child Alive and help raise pennies and other funds for this remarkable organization's work. I did not plan to enter the competition, but my creativity began to take charge and I decided to write down what came to mind. Finally, I formed a concrete idea (which the Baruch Chapter will work on implementing this semester), and submitted it for fun.

I had long dreamed about my next trip being my first trip to Africa, and making it a meaningful one (not simply a safari visit and site seeing!), where I would get to work directly with children who may not be as fortunate as many of us are growing up in the "West," and making some sort of difference in their lives. Imagine how surprised and perfectly joyous I was to find out my dream would come true!!! And with KCA - the organization I was already so devoted to! I am extremely grateful for this opportunity and am excited to finally visit the sites I had been researching and writing about for so long, as part of my work with Keep A Child Alive!!

I have traveled outside the U.S. before, but only to Israel (where I was born and raised) and few destinations in Europe. Africa has been my passion for a few years now, and I can't wait to finally go there. I am sure that this trip to Durban, South Africa, will be the first of many meaningful journeys that I will make to this amazing, important, and exciting continent. I plan to make these journeys with a similar mission to that of Keep A Child Alive, with the hope of helping spread the continent's beauty and positive power, and reducing some of the factors that ail it; AIDS, hunger, poverty, etc.

As an intern at KCA I have done extensive research and writing about the Agape Orphanage and the Blue Roof Clinic, and was fortunate to meet individuals from both sites (both care providers or doctors, and the children who are the LIFE of these facilities). However, as Bobbi Bear is a fairly new site supported by KCA, I am not as familiar with it. Bobbi Bear also cares for individuals who are especially dear to my heart - infants and very young children. My heart breaks every time I think about the terrible things that were done to these innocent tiny human beings. However, I still cannot even imagine this. For these reasons, I am especially looking forward to visiting Bobbi Bear. As difficult as it will be, I cannot wait to hold a baby who has gone through such unbelievably terrible abuse and provide that child with warmth, love and comfort (which I'm sure these children receive plentifully by the wonderful Bobbi Bear staff).

As for future plans, Keep A Child Alive and this trip fit in perfectly with my long term career goals. I plan to devote my career to international social justice and development, with a specific focus on women children, and especially in the continent of Africa. Even more specifically, as my husband is Ethiopian, we plan to live in his native country for a time, while creating programs there to improve the lives of children, many of whom are currently suffering greatly from poverty, hunger and disease. These plans are only the tip of the iceberg of what I would like to do and achieve in order to improve people's lives and, as cliche as it may sound, the world we live in.