The woman risking her life to photograph the forgotten victims of war

Source; CNN Africa

During the early part of 2016, Nelly Ating had a severe cough, swollen feet and suffered from frequent fainting episodes. The photojournalist told CNN she was “waiting to die,” during those painful months as she went from one doctor to the next, desperately seeking a diagnosis for the mystery illness.”One doctor treated me for whooping cough, another said I had typhoid.

For six months nobody knew what was wrong. I was depressed and in so much pain, at some point, I gave up and was waiting to die,” she told CNN. Ating had spent the months before her illness documenting stories of those who lost their homes after attacks by the terrorist group, Boko Haram, which has waged a brutal 10-year war in north-east Nigeria.

Ating who lived in Adamawa, one of the worst-affected areas of the conflict, would later discover that she had contracted tuberculosis (TB) while working closely with survivors in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps, where diseases and illnesses are rife.

Nelly Ating, Nigerian photojournalist.

TB is a highly contagious bacterial infection that affects the lungs, bones and sometimes nervous system.”A doctor in Lagos diagnosed me and told me that my case was critical. She prescribed drugs for me and I had to be quarantined for about three weeks too,” she said.

Ating, now 30, started telling stories of Boko Haram survivors in 2014 when she joined the Adamawa Peacemakers Initiative (API), a not for profit established by the American University of Nigeria (AUN) in 2012, that offers training and support to young people at risk of being recruited by Boko Haram.

A year after graduating with a degree in print journalism from AUN, Ating joined the API team as an intern. “I joined them at the time Boko Haram became very intense. They were working to promote peace in the state,” she said.”They used football to pass the message of peace and love to young northeasterners. They wanted to keep them engaged, outside terrorism through sports,” she added.

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