Benny Acquah
Benny Acquah remembers the trouble people sometimes had obtaining clean water in her home city of Koforidua, Ghana. So she decided she would study environmental engineering at UAF and someday help solve such problems.
鈥淔or us to make the world a better place, it needs to come from you and me,鈥 she said.
Acquah, who came to Anchorage from Ghana six years ago, also hosts a weekly radio show of Afrobeat on KSUA-FM and serves in UAF鈥檚 student government.
鈥淚 like to help out and share ideas,鈥 she said.
Acquah鈥檚 mother moved to Anchorage from Ghana in 2005. Acquah followed years later, in 2014. She attended Bartlett High School in Anchorage. Her two older brothers also now live in Anchorage, but her father and two sisters remain in Ghana.
Koforidua is a medium-sized city located just north of Accra, the capital of Ghana, a country along Africa鈥檚 Gulf of Guinea.
鈥淭here is a lot of pollution. Growing up seeing that, that just really brought me into the field of environmental engineering,鈥 Acquah said.
Some places in Ghana don鈥檛 have guaranteed drinking water.
鈥淚n some little towns, it鈥檚 hard for them to have access to it,鈥 she said. 鈥淪ometimes we have to go to the well, and also sometimes they turn it off for the whole month.鈥
Acquah鈥檚 background in Ghana also led to her volunteer role at UAF鈥檚 student radio station, where she DJs the Afrobeat show.
鈥淏ack home, music is pretty much a way of life,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e play music for 24 hours a day.鈥