Other people's children
The Documentary Podcast
BBC
4.3 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 22 October 2023
⏱️ 50 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Mothers from all over the world leave their families in search of economic opportunities elsewhere – and they often end up working as nannies, which means they spend their days with children while their own are far away.
How does it feel to nurture other people’s children while someone else takes care of yours? How does it shape a family when the mother works abroad? What’s the impact on the children, and their relationship with their parents?
Namulanta Kombo - host of the multi-award-winning World Service podcast Dear Daughter – explores the personal stories behind this “global care chain.”
She speaks to women all over the world who’ve been in this situation, from the Philippines to Romania to Nairobi to Dubai.
They tell her what led them to leave, and what it’s been like for them - the birthdays missed and late night phone calls.
They talk about the thrill of watching someone else’s child take their first steps, and the challenges of keeping your family together when you’re thousands of miles apart.
And she speaks to some of the people who stayed behind about the lasting impact on their families.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Amazing sport stories coming soon to the BBC World Service. Nothing is ever quite as |
| 0:06.0 | expected. Yep, it's wild. Search for amazing sport stories wherever you get your BBC |
| 0:11.6 | podcasts. Let's do this. Follow or subscribe so you never miss an episode. |
| 0:21.2 | Welcome to the documentary from the BBC World Service. I'm Nambulant Acombo and this is |
| 0:27.6 | other people's children. I love people's children. Imagine going away to another country. |
| 0:34.4 | As I walk away I could hear my children cry because you have a child and you need to support them. |
| 0:42.1 | It is not my intention to leave them but what do I do? And imagine that when you get there |
| 0:48.2 | you get a job as a nanny. You wash them, you give them food, you play with them. |
| 0:52.8 | So you're spending all your time with children. I treat them as my own children. I give them |
| 0:57.8 | unconditional love. But not your own. What about mine? How are mine? How are mine? |
| 1:05.4 | And when you're taking care of other people's children, who's taking care of yours? |
| 1:10.2 | No mother always wanted to leave their children behind. |
| 1:16.4 | I'm Nambulant Acombo and you might have heard my podcast, Dear daughter, |
| 1:20.6 | where I talk to people who've written letters, letters to their daughters or to other people's |
| 1:25.6 | daughters or sometimes to daughters who don't exist. You can catch it wherever you get your podcasts |
| 1:33.0 | and we're hoping we'll have news soon about our third season. But back in our first season, |
| 1:38.6 | one of the letters we heard came from Raquel from the Philippines. |
| 1:44.0 | My dear Alisa. She came on the show with her daughter Alisa. |
| 1:48.1 | Being food was to give you. I just made me thankful and at the same time. |
| 1:53.4 | To talk about the fact that Raquel had been away for almost Alisa's entire childhood, |
| 1:58.4 | working as a nanny in Canada. Keep your light shine and start like an eagle. |
| 2:03.9 | Much love, mama. |
... |
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