This Is My Story

I recall my childhood and how my dad was such a dominant character in our family. His resilience, hard work, discipline and love for us made our home a safe haven. He had distinguished himself so well, we were the dream family; the perfect picture of what a family should be. All this however changed in just one day. Our idyllic lives came to an abrupt end through a near fatal accident that left my dependable, independent and industrious father incapacitated. Our entire world crushed. Birth & backgroundSecond of four children, I was born and named Rita Marian Akua Ntriwa Owusu to Mr. Joseph K. Owusu and Mrs. Theresa Owusu on Wednesday, the 23rd of May 1962, at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, Ghana. Ours was an upper middle-class family planted amidst a poor and largely uneducated community. Chorkor was a traditional fishing community, densely populated and notorious for churning out teenage mothers. The social environment made you tough and very outspoken and I learned that very fast. Outside the walls of our home there was very little to inspire, hence, our parents were our only role models.