“You are starting school today,” my mother whispered, her eyes shining as she bathed me. I already knew how to say the alphabet and could count to ten. I was eager and looking forward to reciting the alphabet if asked. However, I was only asked to draw a girl at the school entrance exam, which was easy. Expecting to be congratulated for a job well done, I instead saw amusement on the faces of my mum and the teacher. Noticing that the girl had no earrings, I quickly drew two small round earrings. “You have passed!” the teacher shouted joyously. My mum and I were excited, and that’s how I became a pupil of Merton International Nursery School in Accra. We lived in Labone at this time, and after two years, we moved to Sunyani, where my dad was transferred to the Regional Minister’s office as the District Chief Executive. Sunyani In Sunyani, I noticed that our neighbour was a white woman with mixed-race children. This was in the 1970s in Ghana, and it seemed perfectly normal to everyone. Sunyani was fun, and I learned to speak Bono-Ahafo. I remember whispers about the Ashanti King ’s death and being advised to stay indoors for safety. Perhaps my most significant memory of Sunyani was my mother’s accident. We were coming back from school like any other day when we got stuck in traffic caused by a head-on collision between a saloon car and a bus, which resulted in the saloon car somersaulting several times. Imagine our shock when we arrived at the accident scene only to discover that it was our mother’s car. I still vividly recall the tears we shed at that time. I was only six, but I also remember praying silently for God to save my mother. Truly, God hears the prayers of little children because my mother 6 The Birthday Journal
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