In 2025, with nothing but a name, nationality, and faith, I found my long-lost Ghanaian father and siblings.

Now, my newfound brother and I are raising funds to document this journey, a real-time story of family, identity, faith, and belonging that spans Dominica, London, and Ghana.

Chale, I’m Finding the Pattersons is a deeply personal and universally resonant story of perseverance, self-discovery, and the unbreakable human desire for connection.

I grew up in the Caribbean without ever seeing a photo of my dad. For years, I was told he had died in a plane crash. The lines between truth and uncertainty became blurred. I didn’t know what to believe. But something in me refused to stop searching.

One evening in London, my Dominican cousin and I began knocking on strangers’ doors. There was one particular door we felt strongly about — we had a deep conviction it was my father’s home.

We went there twice, but he wasn’t there. Still, we believed.

Then, in the middle of a church service, while holding onto faith, I received a message from my uncle. That moment changed everything.

Later, my brother brought me back to that very same location. It was the door. And at 28 years old, I met my father for the first time.

(Dad, brother, niece and myself)

What began as uncertainty became family restoration.

Since then, I’ve found two brothers, one Ghanaian and half-Nigerian along with nieces, nephews, aunties, uncles, and cousins across the UK, US, and Ghana. I went from being an only child to gaining three brothers and being an aunt to four children almost overnight.

I am also believing God to find my long-lost half-Jamaican brother, Tejani, and I am actively searching for him. This story is still unfolding.

This December, I will travel across Ghana. I am not visiting, I am coming home.

The documentary will also be filmed in Dominica, where the curiosity first began.

Blending Caribbean and Ghanaian cultural motifs, archival fragments, and vérité documentary style, the film immerses viewers in the experience of dual heritage. Alongside the story of family, we will highlight culturally significant initiatives, including partnerships with community projects such as Alzheimer’s Ghana, to amplify social impact.

Since sharing this journey online, the story has reached over 60,000 views across Instagram and TikTok. It led to features in Black Ballad and The Happy Newspaper, and an invitation to deliver a TEDx workshop at TEDx Northeastern University in London.

This is more than a reunion. It is faith in action. It is culture, community, and identity brought to life on screen.

I am inviting you to help bring this documentary to life, to preserve this story for our family, our community, and anyone searching for where they belong.

If this story moves you, please donate and share.

Let’s make it happen, family.

#ChaleThePattersons

God bless

Rianna Naa Akoley Patterson, also known as Rianna Patterson