DAY ONE AT JUSTICE

Today is the first day on the job at Radio Justice in Tamale. Our frequency is 98.5 FM and we are one of four radio stations in the city: the others being FILA, Diamond FM, and Savannah. Justice is connected to Joy FM and Luv FM which are two major stations in Ghana (especially Joy FM). You can get a feel for what we do through listening live at www.myjoyonline.com (though their station is much more established and funded, has more expereinced staff, a wider market, more advertisers, and no Dagbani programming).
















My day has gone as follows:

Razak (the station manager and I arrived together at 8:30am – we were running a little bit late).

He went to the studio to give Abeena and Lilly (to ladies from North Carolina their promised shout outs), while I was getting aquatinted with my office. It is nice and spacious. There are glass doors, a view of the street that the station faces, a large glass boardroom meeting table, a desk for writing, and a desk with the computer that I will be using.

I was handed a folder of documents that Raegen (the last JHR rep to work here – she was also the first at Justice). I was also shown her folders on the computer. I have set up my own and I have began sort and checking the emails that I got behind on.

Throughout the day, people have trickled in to say ‘welcome’. Some conversations were brief, while others were quite lengthy. Everyone is asking me how Raegen is doing. I think they are disappointed when I tell them that I don’t really know her very well. As I meet people, I am compiling a list of the staff and their positions so that I can remember who everyone is and what they do.

For lunch I met up with Janey and John. John is wrapping up his stay in Ghana, which concludes in two weeks. Janey is also up in Tamale with me at Diamond FM. I lost her after we got off the flight as I gave her the wrong cell number and she did not have hers up yet. I was glad to reunite with her. We all went to a spot called the cultural centre where I had ‘red, red’ (fried plantain and beans) and chicken.

On the way back to work, we ran into the infamous Mohammed aka Mo’ – who is known for his school book hustle (he claims to need money for school books and uses the money for whatever else he wants when he gets it). After finding out that I am a good friend of Janey, he gave me a necklace as a gift. It’s pretty nice, and he said he made it.

We were supposed to have a managers meeting this morning, but it got post-poned until 3:30PM. I’m not sure if it will happen though, as news just arrived that a friend of the station lost his father.

On another note, my housing arrangement has not worked out the way that I thought it would. Currently, I am living with the station manager in a compound with his family. He has really looked out for me over the past few days. A bunch of his friends and the children in the area have come by to meet me. A lot of the people seem to be really surprised to see me there, especially when I’m outside brushing my teeth or walking with a roll of toilet paper to ‘ease myself’.

In the evenings, we watch Nigerian movies, eat Ghanian food and sleep in Razak's room. I am longing to have my own place though, and I should have that worked out by the end of the day. I can't wait to unpack!!! I am about ready to be done with living out of a suitcase for awhile.

Tonight I will meet with the ladies from North Carolina for dinner, and will be attending another dinner on Wednesday. I have also been invited to 5th year anniversary celebrations at the Winning Life Church in Tamale taking place all this week. That is the church which I attended on Sunday, and one of their ministers is featured on the radio on Sunday mornings. Going to church turned out to be a double blessing, as I followed the group to go to the Tamale prison where they handed out supplies and prayers for the prisoners. That was not expected!