I grew up in the Commonwealth of Dominica with my mum and grandparents as an only child. When I asked my mum about my dad, she told me his name, that he was Ghanaian and that he lived in London, UK, but I didn’t know what my dad looked like or how to locate him. Over the years, I was even unsure whether he was alive or not as I was receiving conflicting information from family members.

Whilst in Dominica I tried contacting people on social media by searching for him on Facebook and reaching out to a few Pattersons I found, but no one replied. Around eight years ago, when I moved to the UK for my studies, I took the opportunity to search again using government records and an online directory, and I found an address. I asked a family member from my mum’s side to accompany me and we went to the house together. We knocked, but got no answer.

Despite being initially unsuccessful in tracing my father, over the years I have tried to connect with Ghanaian culture in my own way. I would tell people my dad is/was from Ghana, would wear Kente, and even joined Ghanaian groups at university or in the workplace. Recently, I started to say I am Dominican and Ghanaian, but there were still a lot of questions left unanswered.