Our final week in Ghana was yet another busy one, consisting mainly of lectures. After our final lecture, we were given a little bit of free time for the final two days. The first day a few students and I traveled to the Aburi Botanical Gardens in Aburi, roughly 45 minutes away from Accra. There we were met with beautiful landscapes, ancient trees and fresh air. Just before leaving, we encountered a trash fire within the Gardens. It was quite disheartening to see destruction in the midst of such beauty. In addition to photographing the event, I also wrote a blog post about it on the Scripps International Institute of Journalism’s blog, which you can read here: http://scrippsiij.blogspot.com/2014/01/as-first-time-international-traveler.html

The second day was spent at the Christ Faith Foster Home in Frafraha. This experience was a little different for me than being at Street Sisters. Here we were asked by one of the Headmistresses to teach the children something from American culture- a song, dance, anything. My roommate Alyssa and I had the pleasure to work with the younger group of kids teaching them silly songs like the ‘Hokey Pokey’ and ‘The Itsy Bitsy Spider.’ Since we were teaching, I was unable to use my camera but enjoyed the break from it to better interact with the children. I was able to grab a few shots before leaving which are the final images that I have from my trip. My experience in Ghana has given me a wider view of the world, and am so fortunate to have been able to document it in a way that I will never forget.