[By Porter Levenson]

I was nervous for the first week of my internship, but everyone I worked with, who was also college-age, really helped calm those fears. The people I have met are some of the hardest workers I’ve ever seen in action. They take on projects and responsibilities that would usually terrify the average American college student. I only hope that I can match their expectations.

So far, I’ve just been taking pictures around the station. For broadcasts, I usually go in and take portraits of the “uncles” on air that day. Uncles gather the stories and read them for each broadcast segment. Everyone seems to like me taking pictures of them. A couple of new profile pictures have emerged from the work I’ve done so far.

Additionally, I attend major events with reporters. So far, I’ve taken pictures for the Strategic Plan Announcement ceremony on campus. This announcement detailed the University of Ghana’s plan for the next five years. All important faculty members attended, and I was able to photograph portraits of most of the members.

 Prof. Gordon Akanzuwine Awandare, Pro-Vice Chancellor of Academic and Student Affairs

Prof. Felix Ankomah Asante, Pro-Vice Chancellor of Research Innovation and Development

The next event I covered was a school-sponsored concert called Nirva- Land. I was impressed by this event mainly because our home university rarely holds free events of this scale. Once a year, we have a small stage set up on the center lawn with a few local artists. But, typically, no one known on a national level headlines these shows. In Ghana, however, the show was headlined by the most popular music artist in Ghana – Shatta Wale. With 4.3 million Instagram followers and 900,000 monthly listeners on Spotify alone, this was one of the biggest artists I’ve ever seen in person. Standing behind him onstage, I captured photos of him and the performance.

I could tell he loved the crowd even though they were getting rowdy. He is a natural performer.

These flame columns popped up frequently during his performance. Attendees made flame columns using a lighter and nitrous oxide canisters.

The crowd was even more excited than I was. I had only been introduced to Shatta a few days before the concert, but the students had been listening to him for their whole lives. The excitement was further fueled by the alcohol sold nearby at stands set around the main stage area. Even before the set list began, the fans rushed to the stage. The organizers wanted to set barricades up to give room for the media, but they weren’t quick enough. The fans were already within reach of the performers. Luckily, nothing too crazy happened. Some concert-goers threw bottles and rocks, so the police had to threaten the crowd with tasers to prevent them from getting on stage.

Throughout my experiences so far, I have been working on an article for the radio’s website. Their website posts news articles covering a wide range of topics, including Ghanaian-focused news. The article I wrote covered international students at the University of Ghana. I aimed to document their experiences in Ghana as college students.

Here is the finished piece:

Exploring the University of Ghana: A Foreigners Perspective

I’m so glad that I have this amazing opportunity to fully immerse myself in a new culture. I’m learning so much through my internship and our Media in Ghana trips around the country. I’ve been very impressed with my colleagues and the work that they do.