I am Wilhelmina Donkoh, a rising junior majoring in Business Administration at Ashesi University. An interesting fact about me is, I am naturally gifted when it comes to cooking. My love for cooking during my free times at home helped grow this gift of mine. I chose to intern with Sustainable Energy Technologies Limited (SETECH) due to my love for cooking and my passion for a cleaner and safer cooking environment. I believe SETECH is doing a great job by promoting environmentally friendly solutions for cooking. Also, I
believe joining SETECH will help me realize my dreams of operating an environmentally conscious restaurant by having access to the tools and technologies that help to reduce pollution and the adverse effect pollution has on the community. Interning at this company for the past four weeks has had a meaningful impact on both my professional and personal growth. The facilities needed for a convenient, learning centered environment are in adequate amount, considering the fact that this company is a start-up. The environment at SETECH is a friendly one and the diversity, in terms of the human resources, portrays that which Ashesi University promotes. As such, I am able to learn from differing views which contribute to enlightening discussions. The motivation and grooming that I receive regularly, have helped me to build upon both my interpersonal and interpersonal skills as well as my expertise in the tasks given to me. This internship has given me exposure to other fields of work (biomass cookstoves and fuels) and academia (engineering). With regards to my major, Business Administration, I am receiving a first-hand experience in transitioning into the professional world through market development, business plan development, proposal writing and the website development task. The weekly update presentations by the interns helped in improving my communication skills.
There has been a substantial amount of professional development. I drafted and sent out official letters to schools and take the stoves to the market in order to both raise awareness for the utilization of the stoves about the benefits derived from it, and to market the stoves as well. In the course of these activities, I was able to develop my oral communication (interpersonal) skills. With regards to the professional development, I was able to improve my writing skills as I drafted multiple formal and official documents through the activities that were scheduled for the week. Thus I have gained a better appreciation for formal writing. Through my interactions with the headmasters and headmistresses of six schools, I found out that in the course of having any activity in any school, one needs permission from the municipal director of education. During the week, I was given the chance to help with the development of the website for our stoves. As such, I spent an ample amount of time watching website tutorials so as to become better acquainted with website development. This helped build my love for programming and my programming skills. I was also given the chance to help complete the application form for the Entrepreneurship World Cup 2019, contributing significantly to my communication skills. The internship has not been a smooth ride. The cold behaviors of some respondents during the market outreach was a notable experience.
I look forward to applying the various soft skills developed and the introduction to new ideas and information in every aspect of my endeavors to become a better version of myself who is ready to serve others. My utmost gratitude goes to both Ghana Climate Innovation Center and SETECH teams for this great opportunity and the support that was provided.