Denise's Journey Hours after Denise Luke was born in Togo, a west African nation, her family thought they were looking at her for the last time. She was born a bit overdue, and had swallowed some bodily fluids during the birthing process. A man passing by asked what was going on and the family told him that she was dead. The man looked at her, then made a cut under both of her eyes and applied some material on the wound. Seconds later she was awake. "Here, we are not prisoner," Denise says. "The [refugee] camp was surrounded with bushes." Since moving to Morehead in 2014, she started a garden that includes her infamous hot peppers. As they gather for dinner, Denise asks Vaillant (right) to lead prayers. Denise along with Vaillant are devout Jehovah's Witnesses. Emmanuel continues to watch television, she asks him to turn it off and he refuses. Seconds later, Denise tells Vaillant to grab the remote and turn it off. Denise plays with Daxter at home before attending a photo lab class at Morehead State University. She adopted Daxter from a former convict she worked with at the Community Recycling Center. Daxter was one of three puppies. Denise enters the darkroom during her photo lab class at Morehead State. "It wasn’t easy," she says. "Everyone was ahead of me but the professor is amazing." Denise is scheduled to graduate in May 2018. Denise receives photo printing advice from her professor, Robyn Moore, during a photo lab. "The first project was not easy," Denise says. "I put all my photos on the wall and [Robyn] was crying." Denise greets William Collin Alexander, manager at the Community Recycling Center, where she volunteers. "She’s a strong individual, but I told her that she needed to stay in school," William says. The two have become close friends after Denise supported William when his son was born premature. Denise speaks about fleeing Togo to the neighboring country of Ghana. While in a refugee camp in Ghana, Denise helped support her family by styling her neighbors' hair. Denise pauses in her doorway before leaving home for her photo lab. "The only way I can help people is to be educated," she says.
