CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- Nervousness, a common emotion, was palpable in the building off Buford Road one December night. "I am, um, a little bit nervous.""She's a little nervous." "I still am a bit nervous to go out of the country without my parents." Many parents and children both, sharing a sense of hesitation about signing their daughters up for a trip to Ghana without him. But others, needed almost no convincing at all to get on board with "Her Journey Home." "My favorite book is 'Roots' and my favorite author is Alex Haley," said Lonnie Grady, the father of one of the "Her Journey Home" participants. "And so I watch it every year to make sure I stay in the culture. So when I heard about the opportunity for Laura to trace her roots and go back home, I couldn't say no." "Her Journey Home" aims to provide more than a dozen teen girls in Central Virginia a chance to connect with their heritage, expand their horizons and build leadership skills by traveling to West Africa. The program is administered by Girls for a Change (GFAC), the powerhouse non-profit behind award-winning Daughters documentary, known for how it empowers young Black girls in the Richmond area to lead and pursue advocacy. The Dec. 15 session, which gathered a few dozen parents and students together, was an opportunity to provide more information to those interested and ease the minds of parents on the verge of making the final commitment to send their daughters. Before learning that donors are covering a significant portion of the cost -- the flights -- with plans in the works to get more costs covered, they heard from 8News anchor Deanna Allbrittin. An avid traveler, she visited Ghana around the same age as many of the girls who GFAC is targeting for the program. She too, went with students her age and not her parents. She shared how the experience challenged her, made her grow and has impacted her journalism career to this day. "So after you got up and did your marvelous presentation, I felt my daughter's soul just erupted inside," Whitfield said to Allbrittin in an interview after the session. "She was like, 'Mommy, look! See somebody else is traveling!' Because she wants to do the exact same thing." Whitfield says her daughter's adventurous spirit and knowing her ambitions lie far from home can be difficult to take in at times, but the more Whitfield learns about the program, the more assured she feels signing her up is the right choice. "I want her to be independent," said Whitfield. "I want her to travel, to do all the things that I couldn't do. I want her to just live her best life." Other parents, echoing the same sentiment -- a desire to give their children opportunities they haven't had and for some, opportunities they couldn't afford to give them. For them, the December parent session helped ease most remaining nerves. "Tonight's session not only reassured me that she'll be safe, but it gave me the information that I needed to reassure grandma and mom and step mom and great aunt and aunt that everything will be just fine," Grady said. And his daughter Laura, got the same reassurance. "I'm feeling a little less nervous to know that there's going to be more people than I thought," said Laura Grady, of learning that they'll be joined on their all-Black flight crew from Atlanta by more than 80 other Black girls from around the country. She said it also helped to know that it's normal to feel nervous before taking such a big step. "I still am a bit nervous to go out of the country without my parents. But I'm safe around these people, around everybody," she said. So for those girls and parents still dragging their feet to registration, Laura Grady had a message seemingly once "fake it til you make it" mantra, turned true belief. "I know that you might be nervous, but I feel like you won't regret it because you'll have a lot of fun," said the younger Grady. "You'll learn new things and you'll be nervous, but when you're there, you will be really glad you did it, because you have the time of your life, and when you come back, you won't regret it." ...read more read less