As a music major and an advertising major, there are few opportunities where both of my degrees align in a job opportunity. While researching for an internship in Ghana I wanted to do just that, find an internship that would allow me to use my knowledge from both schools and begin to create a resume that could display both talents.
MUSIGA was just that. A state-funded musicians’ union that would create promotional media for itself. I talked with my program advisor months before even leaving for Ghana, pleading to have the opportunity at MUSIGA. A few weeks before leaving I found out my internship would indeed be at MUSIGA. I remember letting out an audible level of excitement when she first told me. I was beyond excited to get to Ghana and begin working.
The few weeks leading up to the flight meant even more research on the musicians union. I found out where the office was, right on the ocean away from most of the busy Accra suburbs, a literal beachfront property. I discovered they already have a few projects in the works such as an academy for up and coming musicians as well as an aging musicians fund to provide welfare for older musicians. I also discovered they were about to have their elections.
This is where things go awry. The elections, which happen every four years, were supposed to finish the day I arrived. I was expecting to land and find out who the new president, my boss, would be. The elections didn’t happen. All I found online was a press release from MUSIGA stating the elections had been pushed back a week due to a problem with voter registration.
Arriving at work the first day, I was expecting to walk into a frenzy of candidates, voters, and media. That was not the case. Instead, I waited five hours for my boss to show up only to tell me to come back tomorrow morning for my introduction meeting.
The next morning I met with my boss, Daddy Bosco, where he gave me the assignment of creating a documentary of the outgoing MUSIGA president, Obour. In addition, he had me write a press release regarding the elections, they had been pushed back a second time.
It is now my sixth and final week in Ghana and the elections have not happened and my documentary is not finished. The elections received huge pushback from voters citing poor registration and the main subject of my documentary, Obour, had avoided my messages. The one day he was free in the six weeks I was here, I was traveling to another region of the country.
After talking with my one other coworker, she informed me that the problem was the elections. Unsurprisingly the outgoing president was trying to remove himself from the position but was having to stay around more and more because of election delay, therefore giving him less time to meet with me. Unfortunately, what I had hoped would be a great combination of my two degrees was an introduction into the tough world of journalism. Having your work schedule revolve around someone’s free time is a very difficult situation to handle, especially when you’re only around for a few weeks.
While I may not have been able to get as much done in the office as some other students on this trip, I was able to explore Accra on my numerous days off. I was able to explore the heavily British influenced suburb Nima. I was able to wander and get lost for a few hours in the enormous Makola market. My internship allowed me to see Accra beyond the office.
