Who am I ? — Derrick Alberto Darku

My name is Derrick Nii Amanor Alberto Darku. I was born a day after my father, Mr. Raymond Nii Oto Darku, on 8 May 1993 at Dansoman, a suburb of Accra, Ghana, West Africa!

He is a very hilarious disciplinarian with a heart of Gold but that don’t glitter if not for the Grace and exquisite influence from the woman who has supported me even before I was born, my mother!

She hails from Angola, all the way from Southern Africa but left everything behind to come to Ghana with three kids to live another life, another adventure, just trusting. Fortunately giving birth to me alone in Ghana. Making me the fourth and last child.

Typical for a woman called Maria Josè Alberto Darku. She’s so smart and irreplaceable and I love her forever dearly.

We may not have it all, but together we have it all. And for that I’m grateful.

My siblings on the other hand are unique beings also existing on this planet.

We are somewhat quadruplets or twins in two sets be it gender or the complexion of our skin or whatever, you’ll see.

My oldest sister, Alina NAA Densua Djanie, is a September baby, born on the 2nd day of the month, and is happily married to Mr. Richard Nimrod Djanie with three beautiful princesses, Rayna Elaine Naa Dei Djanie and her chubby little sister, Reesa Evelyn NAA Kuorkor Djanie. And there’s the last baby, R.G. K. Djanie. My sister has an interesting story I’m sure the Angels of heaven would clap if her name is mentioned.

An agronomist by occupation and she writes beautifully and has a keen sense of organizational skills,

She is a no-nonsense woman who you should take care never to mess with. Trust me on that.

The next older sister is also born on the 2nd day of the month of May while the one who follows after her, my brother who is six years older than me, is born on the 8th day of September. So technically he is my twin in number, my second sister my twin in the birth month and when it comes to the complexion, I’m twins with Alina since we are both fair. Quite exciting I must say but however God planned this and bestowed on my parents, then I believe we are not just ordinary folks born into this world.

Suzana Naa Amuah Amoo-Mensah is my twin in the birth month, she is also happily married to a doctor, Dr. Daniel Amoo Mensah, and they have three gifted children, Maia Maria Ewurabena Amo-Mensah, Olga Suzana Efua Amo-Mensah, and Adiepena Araba Amo-Mensah and she also writes beautifully. It’s amazing how my sisters love writing. A trait I believe picked up from them. Kelly Sue is a well mannered industrious lady and I know in my heart she will experience the life she dreams of. Her faith in God is unmatched and I admire and love her so much .

My older brother believes himself to be that basketball star who can rap if you pass him the mic. He actually got a mean flow undoubtedly. I can say he took after my dad because of his golden heart. Emmanuel ( God with us ) Nii Alberto Darku, that’s his given name is my blood brother and the one I can easily and effortlessly go to when I am at my lowest point . I love him eternally.

Enough about the nuclear family, I’m curious about myself.

I started schooling At St Margaret school when I was as little as not even a year old. The classroom was in a garage and it ended up giving me sores and boils all over my legs. I can remember scenes of this at that young age and it amazes me.

That was when my mother took me out immediately, recognizing how much I was reacting..and took me out to continue to kindergarten in Crown Prince Academy. That is a memory even for a child, I’m not supposed to recall but it all seems so clear, the light-skinned girl of a daughter to the headmistress. O how we used to play in the woman’s office after school and lord knows what we used to do.

And there was a time I felt disgrace when I spoiled myself because I was shy to ask to go use the bathroom and ended up defecating on myself. Speaking up for yourself was a lesson learned quite early I’d say.

That was one of my first painful memories, how the woman used a broom to wash my ass crack, wasn’t that broom supposed to be used to scrub the toilets? She’s probably passed on by now but that was quite mean.

That phase was fun in general, my brother walking me to school and telling me about the adventures of MIGHTY. I’m looking forward to making a cartoon series out of that in the near future… For the world to see

Plus my fear to climb the sea saw in the school. That took guts and I admired the other children that could climb and go over.

The start of the jonboi?

Anyways my parents decided that I leave Crown prince and join my siblings at Cosmos school. Their reason being that Cosmos school is quite experienced with the Basic education certificate exams/ BECE that every student had to take before they could enter the senior secondary school.

So I left and wrote my first entrance exams to begin class one in Cosmos school.

I didn’t even notice but apparently,

my name was the first name on the list because of my outstanding performance. I am nonchalant but that brought joy to my family and I think I felt good.

Class one was fun, getting good grades and staying out of trouble.

Then to class two at the main school block. Knowing the difference between breaking the rules and bending the rules.

All the way to class 6, then I became the school prefect of the primary sector. Another amazing experience! Being a leader is one heavy burden but it comes easy when you know what to say…

Because you only have what you say!

“With great power really comes great responsibility”, I added to the list of words to live by.

Junior high school came like a flash and I found out that I could love a stranger I didn’t know from anywhere.

Can one be scared to show how much he loves a girl? I was shy and I didn’t know why

All this emotional stress coupled with the responsibility of being senior school prefect for the second time and this time the whole school. Leaders are chosen I came to acknowledge. No matter how much you try to ignore this or run away from it, I discovered.

With all the expectations from family, friends and the Church, I believed I let them down because I got 7 ones out of the ten subjects.

The beginning of it all? I still have my faith. Lost and confused, I wanted a change, a new environment where I could go and be alone away from all the temptations,

My father wanted me to go to Presbyterian boys secondary school, Suzana wanted me to go to Prempeh college, I didn’t want to go to Accra Academy because my brother and father attended that school, I had a craving for Adisadel college but I was too scared I’d end up a wee smoker from the rumors If only I knew.

I put my foot down and chose St. Peter’s secondary school all the way high on the Kwahu mountains. A man in the making had to go into the mountains to connect himself to his higher self.

I’m now in tune with my higher self.

I got brave again and loved once more, to a pretty girl who added spice to my life, but I was not mentally forte to handle the situations that came our way. Life goes on and I pray she is happy where ever she finds herself.

Enough about the love side, God is love! My academic performance was going down the drain even though I was offerings general science with biology in the school.

The little distractions just from being lovable and popular among my peers denied me the time to better myself until after four years of school, we wrote the West African Certificate examination to be able to enter the university.

God being so good, i managed to get 6As out of the 8 subjects, still not good enough but getting my second choice course in KNUST.

I could have gone to Legon to offer Food science and technology but that would have been a different story.

Kumasi had something in store for me

My First year in Katanga, all about social media life and I was enjoying meeting people stunting online and living the life we dream of on the internet streets. I go to meet cool kids in person like Rondo and Sticks, great men who taught me how to appreciate the extravagant things in life.

Forgetting all about reality and crumbling down till I got expelled in my second year because of poor performance. Not putting in effort will reveal the results eventually.

I could have stopped there and then but my parents, knowing the plans they have for my education, opted to pay for me to repeat and do the second year again. And I must say I’m content and grateful for their effort. It was one hell of a ride.

Taking one day at a time, figuring what I can do, what I like, and what I have to do.

After being introduced to a lifestyle of drugs just to ease the pain of not being able to live according to the standards set by people, I’ve still survived with a smile on my face. I have learned how to not depend on the usage of such drugs. Sobriety is a must while centering the mind on solving worldly problems.

I’ve met great and wonderful people i have added to my network and that makes me me great. I’ve learned how to appreciate the gift called life and to better myself today and now for no one knows tomorrow.

Sometimes laziness creeps in, but I still stand up stronger than ever, no longer scared of fear, gaining the best things in my life now and acting right and civilized.

From this point, I do not know what the future holds but I’ve got a pretty much fair idea how I want it to look like and I’m working hard towards it.

With the power from the love of those who wish me well, I’ll do it! I’ve done it before and I can do it again.

In all, I give thanks to God for seeing me through.

And I’m proud of the little experiences that have shaped me even if they think me a fool. Playing a fool’s card takes wisdom.

Never give up! Wake up and pray!

And that’s a normal routine!

I always wanted to be a doctor when they asked me what I wanted to be in the future.

Growing up taught me that I can be anything I wanted to be.

I have mad respect for doctors because saving a life is a power that makes them unique.

My dad told me to build a robot heart to sustain one’s life just a bit longer.

I am a Computer Engineer, and to be an engineer means to be able to solve any problem using your hands more and your head. To specify it means I’m a computer doctor, I should know how to handle the hardware and the software bit and time will tell. So I turned into a Software Developer to balance it out.

https:/Devlifefly.netlify.app

Maybe the robotic heart could make me the next iron man.

The irony considering how I’m declaring myself a dirty billionaire

I also long to play the organ. So I’ve been practicing on a little one I bought for my nieces to practice on while they grew up. To Make beautiful music with the ones that I love and enjoy heaven on earth will be very fulfilling. Working hand in hand with people who share my dream, a dream team, shouts to Hyperspace Records and the Harley Street Boys. Y’all produce and cook up the best beats and I’m glad I got to be a part of history in the making.

I should know how to cook very delicious meals because food is a basic necessity and I believe being able to cook gives you an advantage. my mother makes the best meals ever and is my inspiration. Another person who really impresses me is chef Kiko. That’s what I call grit in cooking. *chef Kiss*

A restaurant just by the beach next to the studio beach house will be something beautiful to own. I pray God provides.

Going into software development, I realized is a daily learning affair. I’m looking to be a full-time programmer fluent in the high-level languages as well as the machine languages. Getting conversant more with hacking and being able to surf the Internet streets undetected. A computer wiz guru.

Fixing internet problems, setting up, and continual improvement on my skills according to the updates being released from time.

In time I pray I write my own programming language. Make history I guess

Robotics should help me build my own artificial intelligence systems, my gadgets too to make my future somewhat like the Jetsons.

I have had love for animation. From the stories my brother used to tell me to Marvel cartoons and Akokhan series in the Graphics, Creating African Cartoons and Anime with wild background African stories has been an idea i have relished upon. I have to act on it and keep every age on their toes with my amazing animations.

I love fashion and believe myself a Fashionista with a keen sense of taste in dressing, designing my own logos for clothes and just playing around with colors.

Earning passively through Brand marketing and influencing products. That would be nice.

My natural fluency in various languages should also be spiked to a higher level.

I speak great English, honest Portuguese, seeking French, surviving Russian, learned German, hobby Japanese.

I am Art patron because art is a part of eARTh and I love visiting galleries and reflecting on the paintings and art works.

Lyricist for the stars because I have a mean pen game since I write beautifully.

I have picked up on fitness training and my passion for gymnastics and calisthenics seems incomprehensible but I’m taking it slow with no pressure.

For now, I am grateful for the kind of man I’m growing up to become.

God and family and friends holding us down.

Starting a business selling plants with the family is all by the Grace of God.

Cheers to the future 🍻 and B.E.T on Berto. God got us till the end!

We are after all destined to be great!

[‘Botany’, ‘Entertainment’, ‘Technology’]

-GreyDadWrites