Michele, a journalism major from the University of Verona in Italy, recently spent four weeks in Cosmic Volunteers media internship program in Ghana in West Africa.

Michele served as a media intern at TV3 in Ghana, one of the country’s premier television stations for news, sports and entertainment.

Michele worked in many areas of television production including researching stories, conducting interviews, post editing, and live on-air presenting.

Michele wrote to us from Ghana:

Scott, thank God I got to meet you and your company Cosmic Volunteers. Thank God I got to have these colleagues in Ghana at TV3 that trusted on me. 

I’m so happy Scott! I’ve been travelling a lot in my life, both for studying and personal experiences, but this one was the best so far, because it gave me a better knowledge of myself, of this beautiful culture and of the job I want to do in my life! 

Thanks for everything, really!

TV3 is popular for its showing of Mexican telenovelas, Korean series and music and a variety of local and foreign movies.

Ghana has English as an official language. So Michele’s fluency in English allowed him to contribute right away to the station’s work in meaningful ways. 

Michele combined his language and media skills with his abiding interest and background in soccer, as he covered important stories about the sport for TV3.

Here is a photo of Michele live on the air at TV3, presenting the horrible news about soccer legend Alex Ferguson — the most successful manager in Manchester United’s history — who underwent emergency surgery for a brain hemorrhage.

Michele also managed to make friends at a local soccer club who invited him to strap on the boots himself and take to the pitch:

During his media internship in Ghana, Michele lived with a local Ghanaian family. They provided him with all meals, his own private room, and a wonderful support system as he learned about the culture and customs of Ghana.

With his warm personality, Michele had no trouble entertaining the kids at his host family. Here he is getting a makeover — Ghana style!

 

On weekends, Michele managed to take a break from his TV duties to do some sightseeing around Ghana. One of the most popular tourist sites is the town of Cape Coast.

Known for its former slave castle, as well as its large local fleets of fishing boats, Cape Coast reminds us all of the horrible tragedy of the Transatlantic slave trade. 

Here is Michele in Cape Coast with a selfie reflecting the tone of the setting:

And of course Michele made some new friends in Cape Coast as well: