body-container-line-1
25.01.2016 Editorial

Ghanaian Connects with Caribbean Distant Cousin

By LaKisha David
Ghanaian Connects with Caribbean Distant Cousin
25.01.2016 LISTEN

Maame Efua Rhoda Quaigrain
Ghanaian
Fante Ethnic Group
Tested with Ancestry DNA to find African descendant relatives

Rhoda, a Ghanaian woman of the Fante ethnic group, recently conducted an autosomal DNA test through AncestryDNA. After receiving her results, she discovered that among those who previously tested with AncestryDNA, she is related to at least 20 people of African descent with a 100% to 95% chance of finding their common ancestors within 5 to 6 generations.

Some of her more distant relatives is a woman of Caribbean descent living in the U.S. as well as the Caribbean woman’s maternal grandmother living in the Caribbean. They exchanged initial messages through AncestryDNA’s website features, but eventually used their personal email accounts to continue conversations. They also engaged in a four-way Skype video conversation that included the Caribbean grandmother, mother, adult child (original contact person), and Rhoda. Rhoda has plans to travel from Canada, where she is enrolled in a PhD program, to the U.S. to meet with her Caribbean cousin. They also have plans to meet in Ghana so that the Caribbean cousin can meet her family in Ghana.

Recently, one of Rhoda’s African American distant cousins reached out to Rhoda through facebook. Rhoda plans to engage more with this new cousin next week once she returns to her university from a school break spent in Ghana. These encounters and many more like them have monumental implications for community building and psychological well-being for people of African descent. Through these new kinship connections, people of African descent can really begin to see each other as family and community.

As for now, Rhoda is trying to convince her father in Ghana to also do a DNA test. Because he is one generation closer to common ancestors shared with newly discovered kin, Rhoda will be able to identify more relatives of African descent in the diaspora. She will also be able to let her newly discovered kin know if they are related to her on her father’s side, another DNA confirmed person in the now-less-foggy direct lineage between Africa and the diaspora.

Rhoda’s Genetic Genealogy Information
GEDmatch kit # A095966
AncestryDNA user name: Rhoda Quaigrain
Number of people Rhoda shares at least 12 cMs with on AncestryDNA: 20 (as of January 6, 2016)

Of those 20:
2 share 28.4 – 33 cMs
3 share 18 – 25.4 cMs
15 share 12.2 – 16.6 cMs
Originally published on http://lakishadavid

Just in....
body-container-line