We had a dog called Snoopy when we lived in Ghana. I loved the dog to come into our room so it would wait for Theresa to leave and then run in. She did not like the dog at all. The day I left for Vienna, the dog ran away. It followed the taxi I took to the airport but could not keep it. It was as if he knew. My work as an International Inspector was focused on countries such as Japan, Iran and North Korea. My focus was assessing the nuclear reactors to ensure they were not trying to build bombs. We were promoting nuclear peace not for war. North Korea was interesting because it was closed to the outside world. At the height of the tension with the US, my colleague and I were the only ones permitted into the country because of the sensitivities. We were two African nuclear experts who had to go into place of American, Canadian and British colleagues. Our knowledge was valued and our access to these countries in the middle of complicated geopolitics was essential. People always say that North Koreans eat dogs so as Africans were concerned. We tried to limit where and what we ate to make sure it did not include dog meat. The truth is, we were always treated like royalty - they would make an effort to give us access to foreign foods, cognac and wines. I always enjoyed the times we were in North Korea. In 1994, we traveled to North Korea at a time of extreme heightened tension which required President Carter to fly into the country. For a few days, the outside world assumed we were lost. Theresa was listening to the news but had no idea where I was for a few days. Normally, I made an effort to call when I was away on inspection but North Korea was always an anomaly. Because there was no access to the media of the outside world, we had no idea what was happening. But the deliberations between the presidents were successful which meant that the two of us were not deported out of the country.

I remember we lived in two places - one by the ocean and one by the woods. I spent a lot of time in Abom. Abom is near the ocean and near the fishermen. My grandmother, my father’s mother, was my favourite person when I was growing up. We did not live with my mother and father during most of our childhood as they were not living in Cape Coast. When my mother came to Cape Coast we would stay with her. So I really like Abom because of my grandmother. I remember my parents would never tell us when they were leaving when they visited us. They would just leave and I would cry after my mother. The second house was near the woods and was surrounded mainly by mango trees. It was one of only three houses in that area. There were not many people in that area - it was very secluded. There were some churches that would use the road near our house in the woods to go and bury people at the cemetery at the of the road. They would come with lamps. Invariably, this would take place at least once every two weeks. So we grew up with all sorts of fear of devils, ghosts and snakes as you can imagine. Especially when we had to cross through the woods with my friends to play.