Mayor bids farewell to Central Press volunteers

By Lisa Bogler

Three volunteers who worked with Central Press are soon heading back to their home countries, leaving Central Press. Hon. Anthony Egyir Aikins, the Mayor of Cape Coast bids farewell to them in his office.

It was a busy day for Hon. Anthony Egyir Aikins, but he still found time to meet Kwamina Bamfo-Agyei, editor of Central Press Newspaper, and his three volunteers Felix Schmermer, Kerstin Tschernigg and Lisa Bogler. They spent three, respectively one and two months with the newspaper, writing articles on tourism, health, education issues and many more. 

The German Volunteer Felix Schmermer enjoyed meeting so many important and interesting people. He also says that, when researching with Central Press on a topic, he always got to know two sides of the story. They talked for example to the fishermen at the Fosu Lagoon and then interviewed the Environmental Protection Agency and the Mayor about it. 

The volunteers were directly involved in the work and did the job of professional journalists. That was the experience that they were looking for and needed, especially Kerstin Tschernigg, who is studying journalism in England and is heading for Israel for another internship in broadcasting. Central Press gave them the opportunity to experience life as a Ghanaian journalist.

Through Central Press, the volunteers were able to witness events, visit places and get informed about certain issues that are usually not accessible to visitors, stated Lisa Bogler. This made the work particularly interesting and despite inevitable challenges like the language barrier, all three will keep their time with Central Press in good memory. 

As the volunteers spent most of their time in Cape Coast and most of their stories reported on issues in and around the city, they got to know the region very well. Topics to discuss with Hon. Anthony Egyir Aikins are therefore found easily. Doing research for a documentary, for example, Felix Schmermer noticed that many projects to support schools are directed to secondary schools while the primary schools are left behind. Confronted with this, Anthony Aikins responded that they are now focusing on the primaries, bringing electricity to the schools to enable ICT lessons. 

Kerstin Tschernigg asked how the mayor wanted to see Cape Coast in five or seven years. He said that although many challenges have to be faced, he wants to see Cape Coast as a model city. The former capital of the Gold Coast, now Ghana, was the start point of many things, like christianity, education and soccer. This image should be revived, but five years might be too short a period.  

Of course, the media itself is also discussed in this meeting. The volunteers made good experiences with other journalists, but they also pointed out that, when politics are discussed, they are more reminded of gossip than of serious reporting. The Mayor agrees, that stories about politics are often twisted, but he himself has a good relationship with the media. In Cape Coast, he said, the media is doing a good job and he gets on well with the Central Regional journalists. 

The volunteers thanked Anthony Aikins for his time and the friendly welcome in his office despite the short notice and he thanked them for their good journalistic work in Cape Coast and the surroundings. He now has three new ambassadors of Central Region in Ghana.