As government’s year of return project gathers momentum, we tell you about one first generation Ghanaian-American’s struggle for self-identity and a connection with Ghana 

Navigating the path of cultural identity could be a difficult one especially for those with dual nationality, but for Nannette Atuahene Barrie, a first-generation Ghanaian-American, putting difficult memories of the past about Ghana behind her makes her wish to connect with her home country even more interesting.

Nannete Atuahene Barrie’s father went abroad on a government scholarship in the mid-1960s. He was one of many, sponsored by Ghana’s first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah so he could bring back his knowledge to help the newly independent Ghana, build. In the middle of his study, Dr Nkrumah was overthrown and his scholarship, cut.

Nannete’s family settled in the US and hardly looked back home, to Ghana, in part because of that painful memory. Growing, navigating that path of fitting into an American society would forever change her perception of life and her own country.

Now, Nannete has connected with her Ghanaian family in Ghana and wants her daughter to do same.

Now, her daughter- she too- torn between a Ghanaian mother, a Sierra Leonean father and American citizenship, following her mother’s trail, is keen on coming to Ghana,

Nannete wants to visit Ghana with her daughter as soon as possible, and in her words, “to connect with her first love.”