Students from the University of Media, Arts and Communication (UniMAC) have successfully concluded a transformative nine-day collaborative journalism and advertising project in Accra. The initiative, undertaken in partnership with the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and Fourah Bay College (FBC), University of Sierra Leone, focused on documenting the lived experiences of kayayei (female head porters) in Accra’s Kantamanto Market.
The project, which ran from March 13 to 22, resulted in the production of a documentary film, radio stories, virtual reality content, and other fact-based media highlighting the daily struggles and resilience of kayayei in Accra. As part of the Illinois Partnership for African Women’s Health Narratives (IPAWHN), the initiative adopts a solutions journalism approach, emphasizing not only the challenges faced by these women but also grassroots efforts aimed at improving their lives.
Five (5) UniMAC students – Emmanuella Agbezukey, Francisca Ewe, Daniel Abba, Alice Gumah, and Jennifer Amarteifio – from the Departments of Communication Studies, Journalism, and Public Relations participated in the project. Working alongside their counterparts from UIUC and FBC, the students conducted field interviews and captured visual content in Old Fadama and Kantamanto where many kayayie live and work.
The project was supervised by Professor Charles Wade Ledford, Director of IPAWHN; Alison Davis, Lecturer in Journalism at UIUC; Dr. Francis Sowa, Dean of the Faculty of Communication, Media, and Information Studies at Fourah Bay College; and Dr. Stephen Tindi, Programmes Coordinator, Faculty of Communication and Liberal Studies (FOCALS), UniMAC.
Beyond documentary production, the collaboration fostered interdisciplinary learning and industry engagement. Advertising students from UIUC and UniMAC interacted with leading Ghanaian advertising agencies to gain insights into the local industry. A key outcome of the project was the development of a website for the Kayayei Youth Association, a local non-profit organisation supporting kayayei in Accra. The website was developed by advertising students from both institutions under the supervision of Marisa Charlotte Peacock, Senior Lecturer in Advertising at UIUC.
This international partnership and cross-cultural exchange underscore the power of collaborative storytelling in addressing real-world development challenges. By documenting the resilience of kayayei, many of whom migrate from economically disadvantaged communities to Accra in search of better opportunities, students were able to apply their academic knowledge to meaningful social issues.
The media outputs from the project, including the documentary film, radio stories, virtual reality experiences, and other multimedia content, will be widely disseminated in Ghana, Sierra Leone, the United States, and beyond upon completion of post-production.
UniMAC is the only specialised public university for media, arts and communication education in Ghana, uniquely positioned to deliver excellence in Media, Arts and Communications education at the tertiary level. This project, successfully completed by students, goes to demonstrate how theory and practice are the bedrock of holistic education at UniMAC, to prepare students for the 21st Century world of work.