Abby Selden, a May 2010 graduate of Belmont University’s Journalism program, is the first recipient of the Lumos Student Travel Award.   Working through an organization called Projects Abroad, Abby is volunteering in Ghana for three months at the Mount Zion Foster Home, located in the Akuapem Hills. While volunteering at the foster home, she is assisting in whatever capacity she is needed, with the ultimate goal of helping the children achieve a good education and live in a positive environment.

While in Ghana, together with other volunteers from around the world, she is living with a Reverend and his family in Kwamoso, which is near Akropong, about a thirty minute Tro Tro ride from the orphanage itself.  In a recent cell phone conversation, about the only form of contact she has with folks back home, and even that is only possible very occasionally, Abby said she was having a wonderful experience, with her host family, with the children, and seeing parts of Ghana most casual travelers never get to see.  As soon as she can get to a post office, another task whose ease we often take for granted, she will be sending letters that will be posted to this site.  In the meantime, a recent posting on the Projects Abroad website gives a taste of how (and what) she is doing.