The Girl Whose Name is Not from Cape Coast

This is an excerpt from a book I will love to publish in a few years. This might change as time goes by

Marietta Grant DeGrant

My name is Marietta Grant DeGrant. No, I am not from Cape Coast or any Fante town. No, I am not a Ga. I have had lot of issues with my name.

Sometimes, people tell me I am not a Ghanaian. They even wonder why I have a Voters’ ID card. They make proposals to send me to the police for having a Voters’ ID and allowing a foreigner to vote.

I am not a foreigner. My dad is from Akropong. I am known to have a funny accent which has subsided a little. People just look at my face and say I am not Ghanaian.

I have a question: What makes a Ghanaian face?

 Before I entered the tertiary institution and had my admission, the names of those who will be admitted were published in the Faculty and Department’s database. As soon as they saw my name, the students thought I was a foreign student. They were excited to have a foreigner (white lady) in their Department. What a funny world.

After a few weeks of admission, they never saw the white lady, so they were all disappointed.

A year later, a senior in the department asked of my name and I mentioned it.

“Oh, so you are the one?” she said. “When we saw your name, the guys were happy to have a white lady in the department. They were disappointed when they never saw the white or half-cast lady. Not knowing, you’ve been with us all this while.”

I had to laugh. A white lady? As far as I am concerned and doing my family history, I haven’t found out a white blood that existed in my family yet. I haven’t found out about an ancestor who was from Europe.

Excuse me to say, which foreigner wants to study ICT in Ghana?

Whenever we are in a crowd and my name is mentioned, most people expect to see a dazzling lady, so fair, so endowed, so tall, so powerful. All they see is a timid young lady trying to hide from the crowd. She is not tall. (Excuse me, I am not short either). She has a broad forehead, she wears glasses, so much disappointment.

Some people even think I am a boy after seeing my name on paper or hearing it, mostly when they see the Grant DeGrant and their eyes refuse to see the Marietta. Some even think it’s my nickname.

I am trying hard to enjoy my name. At least before I get married. Actually, it depends on the name of my future husband. My name would be Marietta Grant XXX or Marietta DeGrant XXX. After all, Grant is just my middle name.

It's not my fault that I have such a name. Life made it so.

My name is Marietta Grant DeGrant. No, I am not from Cape Coast or any Fante town. No, I am not a Ga.

And yes, I am a Ghanaian.