I like to think I’m pretty tough. I’m a farm girl. I do physical labor. Dirt and smells and creepy-crawlies don’t (often) faze me. Going into this trip, I was pretty confident that I was cut out for Ghana. Maybe it’s just a delusion of grandeur and I’m overcompensating for my smallish stature and a Read More …
Internships, new friends and weekend adventures aside, one of my favorite parts of this trip has definitely been the food. A great deal of my life revolves around food. My family runs the only certified organic goat dairy in all of Oregon (Fraga Farmstead Creamery, in case you’re wondering *winkwink*) and throughout high school I Read More …
One of the coolest experiences since I have been in Ghana was when we went to the Volta Region and visited the Tafi Atome Monkey Sanctuary. I was really excited because monkeys are my favorite animal. My goal once we got deep in the forest was to be able to feed a monkey on my Read More …
Today wrapped up the last day of my internship. I know I learned a lot about what ICT (Information Communication and Technology) is and I also learned more about what Penplusbytes is and how their company trains journalists in their New Media Hub. I think that going to meetings and conferences about things related to Read More …
I began my final week in Ghana with a weekend getaway to the Volta region. The bustling streets of Accra were soon replaced with vast expanses of trees as we made our way to the Wli Waterfall, the tallest waterfall in West Africa. The air felt cool and refreshing as we trekked along the 40-minute Read More …
I have always liked long braids because they’re beautiful on most women. Once I came to Ghana, I learned that wearing braids is a huge fashion trend. So one night while we were all talking, I got the idea to get braids. Another student in our group got her hair done and it looked great, so Read More …
I didn’t bring my camera along very often during the first two weeks of my internship. There were a couple of reasons for this. Firstly, I consider myself to be more inclined as a writer or an audio person than a photographer, which is why I requested to be placed at a radio station for Read More …
Why are you vegetarian? What?! How do you survive?! I couldn’t live without meat! Aren’t you deficient in protein? Don’t you love animals?? I do, they’re so tasty! I tried once for a few years! What do you even eat?! How come you’re not skin and bones? These are the most typical responses I get Read More …
Picture a traditional American wedding. The bride walks gracefully down the aisle with her father to join her husband-to-be at the altar. Close family and friends watch silently with joyful tears in their eyes, waiting for the couple to say, “I do.” After the kiss, the 100 or so guests applaud and the couple leaves together, Read More …
One of our visits this past weekend was to Kumasi, the capital city of Ghana’s Ashanti Region. One of the villages there specializes in Kente cloth weaving. I was so excited to see how they made Kente cloth, because I can’t believe how beautiful some of them are. They are so detailed too. After we got Read More …
As my first month in west Africa comes to a close, I’m finding things are beginning to settle. Flying into Accra with Morgan, we arrived in the night to an airport crowded with people and humidity. Eventually we made it through a long customs line and received a very minor taste of the well-orchestrated chaos Read More …
When Ghanaian DJ and entrepreneur Sonny Louis — who has performed with many of Ghana’s top artists, including Sarkodie, Shatta Wale and Jay Soul — had to DJ a child’s christening, he was nervous. The child’s grandmother had told him that if he didn’t play good music, she wouldn’t pay him, and he knew the Read More …
This weekend we were fortunate enough to enjoy some time away from Accra and visit Kumasi, the capital of the Ashanti Region, which is about a four hour drive north from Accra. At its peak, the Kingdom of Ashanti was bigger than Ghana and stretched all the way to present-day Ivory Coast. Today, the Ashanti Read More …
Alliance for Reproductive Health Rights (ARHR) is a Ghanaian NGO that advocates for gender equality, community empowerment, and reproductive health rights. The Media in Ghana group has formed teams to create a bank of images, graphic designs, and multimedia projects to capture stories and help ARHR with advocacy. These projects, along with a social media Read More …
In Ghana, I’m interning for Today Newspaper, an independent daily whose slogan is “We Blend Our Vision With Truth & Enlightenment,” and so far, this has proven true. Sitting near the door, I hear the constant hustle of reporters coming in and out of the office. There is always laughter, or arguing, and definitely no Read More …