Tracey Neale had covered everything from snipers to presidential elections, but her life changed forever when she was assigned to cover the AIDS crisis in Africa.

Several years ago, she visited Enhembane, an orphanage in South Africa, where a quarter of the population was HIV positive and dying rapidly from a vicious version of the virus, called sub-type C.

"I walked into an orphanage in South Africa and I felt a tug on my skirt," said Ms Neale. "I looked down and there was this little girl in a blue dress with white polka dots. I sat down on the floor, she climbed on my lap, put her arms around me and called me 'mama'.

"My life changed instantly. Her name was Veronica. Although I was there covering the story, I decided I was going to adopt her."

Unfortunately, Veronica had full-blown AIDS and was deemed unadoptable, because she terminally ill.

In fact, all of the children in this particular orphanage had the AIDS virus. "I thought I would fight it, but she ended up dying," said Ms Neale. "I came back to the United States and felt I had to do something."

Ms Neale won the 2000 Edward R. Murrow award for the resulting documentary.

She used her award money to help the children she'd met in South Africa. She also went on to start a charity called 'Veronica's Story', that advocates for orphans and vulnerable children, and also attempts to empower women and girls. They now have offices in Washington, DC, Florida and soon Bermuda.

Their logo includes a picture of the blue dress with white polka dots that Veronica was wearing on that fateful meeting.

"We do a variety of things," said Ms Neale. "We send volunteers over to work with the children. Maybe a school teacher or nurse might give up vacation time to go over.

"This week we have 5,000 children's books going to a school in Ethiopia. It will be the first time these children have ever had their own book. We have done a lot of neat projects. We co sponsored two of the inaugural balls for the last presidential election."

It took her six years to get over Veronica's death.

"I am 43 and at some point in life you start to look at life and balance," she said. "For me, I wanted a family. I made a deliberate decision to go down that path.

"After 20 years of working, working, working and after putting family life on hold, I made a major switch."

It took her two years to adopt twins from Ethiopia. Emebet and Eyasu finally arrived at their new home at the age of 18 months. They are now three.

She said the orphanage they were adopted from in Ethiopia was as good as it could be.

"Orphanages overseas face their challenges – running water, a lot of children and limited staff," she said. "It was as good as it could be. The people there cared about the kids, but there were a lot of kids and limited staff.

"They did the best they could and I saw other orphanages where I couldn't say that."

She said the children in orphanages like this are often desperate for the basics like affection, love, food, and proper shelter.

"My children had to overcome so much," she said. "They had to overcome being in the orphanage. They had medical issues due to lack of food, medical care and exposure to dirty water. They are healthy now. Luckily, they did not have the HIV virus. Sometimes when I look at them I think 'are you kidding me, this is great!'"

At first she lived with them in Washington, DC, but quickly found she longed for a simpler life. Talks with the Bermuda Broadcasting Company began two years ago with meetings in Washington, DC.

CEO and Managing Director Rick Richardson, said they were delighted to finally have her in Bermuda.

"We are pleased to have secured the services of such an outstanding broadcast professional," he said.

"Ms Neale is an accomplished journalist and presenter by international standards, having excelled in one of the toughest markets in the United States, Washington, DC."

Ms Neale said coming back to Bermuda was a dream come true. "It is something I have always had in the back of my mind that maybe one day it would happen," she said.

"Then becoming a mother and adopting the kids, it has been a major lifestyle change. It all just came together."

Ms Neale said it was particularly poignant that her twins were three-years-old on the move to Bermuda, because that is the age she was when she left here.

She left with her mother Ruby Dill, and father Col. Larry Neale who was in the military. Although they travelled extensively, they always returned to Bermuda.

Her grandmother, Margaret Dill, 100, is still living. Ms Neale said she was looking forward to spending Mother's Day with her grandmother and mother and children.

Her career path started at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

In her junior year, she started in television with the small ABC affiliate there. After college went on to work for the ABC affiliate in Florida, and then Charlotte, Virginia.

She went on to work for Fox in Washington DC and stayed with them for 15 years.

Between 2004 and 2008 she was the weekday anchor of 9NEWS NOW in Washington DC. She was also the evening anchor for Fox News in Washington DC for almost a decade.

Like a lot of mothers (and fathers), she's found that motherhood requires sacrifices.

"The last presidential election was my first time being at home with the kids," she said. "I felt like I should be working. As much as I loved the kids, it was so hard not to be a part of that."

During her career in the United States she won numerous awards including the Emmy for "Outstanding News Anchor" in Washington three years running from 2001 to 2003.

In 2005, won two more Emmys for excellence in reporting, and a 2005 Associated Press award.

Those are just a few of her accolades. She said working as news director in Bermuda is definitely different.

"The size alone of the staff is smaller. It is totally different work. I was anchoring the 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. news in Washington DC. This is a management job.

"It is exciting because I have wanted to be here for so long. Again, it was a deliberate lifestyle change. I am excited about some of the changes I want to put into place here."

Ms Neale said she was in the process of registering Veronica's Story as a charity in Bermuda.

For more information, go to her website at www.veronicasstory.org.