0:03

Welcome to Dear Daughter with me,

0:05

Namulanta Kombo. Podcasts

0:08

from

0:08

the BBC World Service are supported

0:11

by advertising.

0:18

Hello, I'm Namulanta Kombo and this is

0:20

Dear Daughter, the show I'm making

0:22

with the BBC World Service. Dear

0:25

Daughter.

0:25

Dear Daughter. My Dear

0:27

Daughter. Dear Daughter.

0:32

I have been collecting letters of advice from around

0:34

the world to share with our daughters everywhere.

0:38

I got the idea for the show when my first child

0:40

was born. I started collecting letters

0:42

for her and then thought, why not

0:44

turn it into a sort of handbook to life for

0:47

all our daughters. But

0:49

since I started the podcast, so

0:51

many people have asked me the same thing. Why

0:54

are you collecting letters to daughters?

0:57

Why not sons?

1:04

Well, just for today, I'm

1:06

turning my attention to my son. I've

1:09

written a letter to him that I want to share with

1:11

you. And I've also invited a dad

1:13

onto the show to read a letter he's written

1:15

to his son.

1:16

You also amaze me with your constant

1:19

inability to keep your room tidy.

1:23

Episode 15. Dear Son. First,

1:29

let me share my letter. Dear

1:36

Son, I'm so excited

1:38

to be writing my first letter to you because I

1:41

want you to know that I think of you with intention

1:43

and care.

1:46

You are a real force

1:48

of nature. Jumping, climbing,

1:51

throwing and genuinely believing

1:54

you are Spiderman.

1:57

As I watch you play, I make quick risk

1:59

assessments. and calculate probabilities,

2:02

measuring angles to make sure that you do not

2:04

hurt yourself. I have

2:06

quickly learned that you have an intense curiosity,

2:10

an endless energy so you're playing football

2:13

and swimming and going for walks

2:15

and trampolining.

2:17

You're helping me work out and overcome

2:20

my fear of algebra all at the same

2:22

time,

2:23

priceless. While

2:25

pregnant with you, I wondered how I would have

2:28

the energy. It

2:30

turns out that you are exactly what I needed

2:33

to push me to have more energy, a

2:35

little less sanity, and

2:38

to live with more abandon. In

2:41

four intense hours, you were

2:44

born into a global pandemic. And

2:46

as happy as we were to meet you, it was

2:48

such a scary time. Nobody

2:52

knew how things would work out. And

2:54

you spent your first two years insulated

2:56

in a bubble. We felt

2:58

sorry that this was your introduction to the

3:01

world. But in reality,

3:03

being in the bubble with you was a breath of

3:05

fresh air. We were all grieving

3:07

for the lives we knew before the pandemic. And

3:11

you came in with gummy smiles, a

3:13

love for music and dancing, reminding

3:15

us of the simple things in life, and

3:18

bringing us closer together. You

3:21

got us outside more with your curiosity

3:23

of creepy crawlies and birds. And

3:25

we met the world again through your fascinated

3:28

eyes. Even now, you are

3:30

so quick to show joy. You

3:33

say a big hi to everyone we come across

3:35

because you want to. And

3:37

you have an infectious energy that we treasure.

3:42

No one should ever think you're a pushover, though. You're

3:45

very strong willed and prefer to learn

3:47

for yourself. You do not

3:49

accept unkindness being shown to Coco in

3:51

any way. And I love that you always

3:54

have her back.

3:55

You shower us with kisses and make

3:58

us smile with your stories of dinosaurs. and

4:00

all the things you ate. You are

4:02

literally the most gung-ho person

4:04

I have ever met,

4:06

and I love it.

4:09

I admit that I will not always know how

4:11

to handle the things you will go through that

4:13

are unique to being a boy

4:14

or a man. So I'm grateful

4:17

for the gentle guidance your dad gives to us

4:19

both, and I will continue to do

4:21

the best that I can for you over

4:23

and over and over again. I

4:26

want you to know that I will always have time

4:29

and love for you. I will believe

4:31

in you, support you, and

4:34

hold you accountable.

4:36

Please stay true to yourself and your character

4:38

as you enjoy your life and experiences. They

4:41

are what will mold you into the special man

4:44

I know you will be. I'm proud

4:46

of you now, and I will be proud of

4:48

you then. Agamaga, mama.

4:51

My

4:57

son is just three years old at the moment, and

4:59

it's going to be some time before I give him this letter.

5:03

But I've invited Andy onto the show

5:05

to share a letter he's written to his son.

5:08

Andy was born in Belfast, in Northern Ireland,

5:11

part of the UK.

5:12

This is where I live, this is where I grew up, and

5:14

I went to school here, and then I left. I

5:17

was part of what we call the drain-drain generation, and

5:21

there was a bunch of us all left to go

5:23

to university over in England.

5:25

After finishing his studies, he joined

5:27

the British Air Force and became a helicopter

5:29

pilot. I spent 13 years doing

5:32

that in a whole bunch of places. I've

5:34

been to Jordan, Borneo,

5:36

Afghanistan, Kenya, Norway, so

5:39

I've travelled all around the place with that.

5:42

A few years ago, Andy left the

5:44

military and became an airline pilot.

5:47

So I fly people on lovely holidays

5:49

all the way across the Atlantic from the UK

5:52

over to the Caribbean, so I get

5:54

a nice little spot of sunshine every couple

5:56

of days.

5:57

Yeah, sunning yourself over there. Yes,

5:59

that's what my plan is.

5:59

wife likes to think I like to think I'm working.

6:07

After being based in England for many years,

6:10

the couple decided to move to Belfast. I

6:12

suddenly realised how wonderful

6:15

a place Belfast is to raise kids. I

6:17

think family and community is a big

6:20

thing here. You know that hole that takes a village

6:22

to raise a child. I think we started

6:25

to feel that very keenly. So when we moved

6:27

back, I'm now surrounded by my aunts

6:29

and uncles and mum and dad and old school

6:31

friends again. It's really,

6:33

really beneficial for the children to have those

6:36

extra people around.

6:38

You've got two kids. Tell us

6:40

about them.

6:41

I have a son and a daughter. My son

6:43

looks like me and acts exactly like my

6:45

wife. My daughter looks like my wife and

6:47

acts exactly like me. So they're an amazing little

6:50

genetic mix and they're a great

6:52

crack. They keep us going

6:53

all the time. How old is your son now?

6:56

My son has just turned 10. And

6:59

your daughter? She has just turned seven.

7:01

Soon after his son was born,

7:04

Andy's military service took him away from home

7:06

for months at a time. So

7:08

I started doing my Afghanistan deployments.

7:11

You know, we sort of had my son and before

7:14

he was one year old, I was deployed away

7:17

and gone over his sort of first Christmas.

7:19

And you kind of go away and then

7:21

come back again and your children have aged significantly

7:25

without you realising.

7:26

Although when Andy's daughter came along, the

7:29

couple were able to take advantage of a change

7:31

in the law. Traditionally, mums

7:34

could take up to 12 months of leave from work

7:36

to look after a new baby. But now

7:39

parents are able to share that time between

7:41

them.

7:42

So we did nine months

7:44

with my wife at home with my daughter,

7:46

and then I did the final three

7:48

months so she could go back to work.

7:51

And it was funny though, asking

7:53

for the time off because I was

7:56

a man sitting in a man's office saying

7:58

I want to go home and look after

7:59

both my kids for three months instead

8:02

of coming to work. And they would say, okay,

8:04

you've got the three months off because it's a legal requirements,

8:07

but what are you planning doing? Are you going traveling

8:09

or something? I was like, no, I'm looking

8:11

after two small children. I'm going to be a lot

8:14

busier in the next three months than it would be

8:16

if I was coming into work. So it was a

8:18

great experience and a great opportunity to take. I think

8:20

a lot more people, if they can, to take

8:23

the opportunity to do what they should do.

8:24

That sounds amazing. I really enjoyed

8:26

it. It was hard. You

8:29

start to realize how you get

8:31

no escape. The kids are

8:34

awake at different times. They need

8:36

fed all the time. They need entertained

8:39

or held all the time. And

8:41

what previously was a bit of an escape when you

8:43

walked out the front door to go to work, it's

8:46

no longer there. There's no off valve.

8:49

And if my wife then called and said, oh,

8:51

I'm going to be half an hour later than planned,

8:53

it's three off my whole routine. And

8:56

I would be super mad. And then

8:58

I realized that I do that all the time. All

9:01

the time I'm leaving the office later

9:04

than planned and thinking, oh,

9:06

well, what's the big deal of waiting half an hour? And

9:09

actually, if you've got a pretty

9:11

hungry and irritable little seven

9:13

month old child, it is a big deal

9:15

waiting half an hour to feed them. So

9:18

we both learned a little bit of each

9:20

other's experiences.

9:21

Usually at this point,

9:24

I ask my guests to read out their letters to me,

9:27

but I want to share a recording Andy has given to me

9:30

of him reading his letter out to his son.

9:34

Dear son, today you are 10 years

9:36

old, very

9:38

proudly double digits deafened. You're

9:41

still keen to remain a child and

9:44

yet beginning to face the inevitable battles

9:46

that growing up brings.

9:48

I hope you have, as I do, many

9:51

brilliant memories of your first 10 years.

9:54

My son, you never cease to amaze

9:57

me.

9:57

You amaze me with your capacity for curiosity.

10:00

You amaze me when you

10:02

look outside and ideally ask why the

10:04

sky is blue.

10:06

But you also amaze me

10:08

with your constant inability to keep

10:10

your room tidy. Your

10:14

point-blank refusal to wear your coat

10:16

when it's cold outside is

10:19

astounding. You

10:21

won't remember that 10

10:23

years ago I wasn't

10:25

around a lot. In fact

10:27

I was away for 12 of your first 18 months

10:30

and missed countless early first

10:33

steps your first birthday in Christmas.

10:36

I was away at the time with my

10:38

job,

10:39

a helicopter pilot in Her Majesty's

10:41

Royal Air Force.

10:43

All that time I was gone I was thinking

10:45

of you, at home growing up.

10:48

But I was also dancing growing up

10:50

myself. I was learning how to

10:52

live my life with a special set

10:54

of principles.

10:56

You don't always want my advice, but

10:58

as you drift further from the sandy shores

11:00

of kidhood towards the terrifyingly

11:03

industrial doggams of grown

11:05

up harbour,

11:06

what can I tell you? What has life

11:08

in the military taught me? Well, here's

11:11

one. Volunteer for

11:13

everything.

11:15

You never know if you've just volunteered yourself

11:17

to clean out the toilet block that's been festering

11:20

in 50 degrees of desert heat,

11:22

or if you are now the one to represent

11:25

your squad on TV.

11:26

People remember when you volunteer.

11:29

They remember you were willing to take

11:31

a risk and put the team before yourself.

11:34

That's the type of guy people want on their

11:36

team.

11:38

Here's another gem from the Air Force. Fly

11:40

the aircraft. Sounds obvious

11:42

doesn't it? This mantra forms the

11:45

basis of all flying training every

11:47

pilot in the world lives or dies

11:50

by these three words.

11:51

Fly the aircraft.

11:54

When an emergency happens, we are all startled.

11:57

Shots from the enemy, an engine fire, extreme

12:00

turbulence, they can scare and distract

12:02

us. But if we don't focus

12:04

on flying the aircraft, we will make the situation

12:07

infinitely worse. In life,

12:10

as in the cockpit, there will be hundreds of

12:12

little distractions or small emergencies,

12:15

but you can't let them bring down the whole plane.

12:17

You

12:17

have to fly your aircraft.

12:21

So there is some advice I want

12:23

you to start thinking about as you become

12:26

a man.

12:26

However, there is something else you

12:29

already do,

12:30

something I want you never to stop,

12:32

no matter how grown up you get. It

12:35

is a frivolous, borderline irritating

12:37

trait you've had since you could talk.

12:40

A habit that has intensified

12:43

as your capacity for knowledge has increased.

12:46

Something that is probably the single most childish

12:48

and innocent, yet necessary and

12:50

important thing I think you can

12:52

do. I want

12:54

you to keep asking why.

12:56

Keep questioning things, be curious,

12:59

never be afraid to say, but

13:01

why.

13:03

Sometimes the answers are easy,

13:05

because it's cold outside, because

13:07

if you lift your clothes off the bedroom floor, then

13:09

I can clean them.

13:11

Because eating 40 sweets at once will make

13:13

your stomach upset. Easy

13:15

answers. Sometimes the answers

13:17

are hard,

13:18

answers we really don't want to hear.

13:22

As you grow up, the questions will get more

13:24

complicated and the answers will do

13:26

too. I don't have all the answers

13:28

you seek, but I implore you to keep

13:31

asking them. But for now, put

13:33

on your coat, because it's freezing outside,

13:37

the sky is blue because of refraction from

13:39

the sun's rays and tiny water droplets, and

13:42

let daddy get a coffee before you ask anything

13:44

else. I love you, double-digit

13:47

Declan, you're done.

13:50

Yay! Yay! Did

13:54

you like that? Yeah, I did. Very

13:57

much.

14:05

Andy, thank you for sharing that letter with us. It

14:08

was equally funny. It was so

14:11

familiar in some bits when I think about my own son.

14:14

How do you learn to fly the plane? Is

14:16

there something as parents we can pour into

14:18

our kids so that they feel confident

14:20

enough to fly the plane? How do you get to that point?

14:23

It is a major part of flying training.

14:25

They throw in practice emergencies

14:28

and it is so easy to get flustered

14:31

and distracted from what direction

14:33

the aircraft is going in and focused on

14:36

some minute light that is flashing,

14:38

that shouldn't be flashing. I think

14:41

it is the same in life. I think that there

14:43

are all kinds of pressures on us and

14:45

you have to sort of remind yourself. You have

14:48

to stop and zoom back out

14:50

a little bit and say, how big a deal

14:52

is this? How much is this deviating

14:55

the aircraft? How much will I make it worse

14:57

by getting involved in making

14:59

a big deal out of it? In

15:02

the cockpit, we train ourselves to

15:04

take a breath, take a second. We

15:07

do have time in life often to

15:09

go, how big a deal

15:12

is my son forgetting his

15:14

coat? You also talk about volunteering,

15:17

but could you tell me a bit more about that

15:19

personally? Yes, I think

15:21

it was something my dad said to me and it was

15:23

a mentality that he instilled early on of

15:26

it is taking some form of action. The only

15:28

thing you can rely on if you don't volunteer is

15:31

that nothing is going to happen.

15:32

One thing I still think about often

15:35

is nurturing versus

15:37

pushing. In this instance,

15:39

it is with my own daughter. She is doing Karate.

15:43

After a term, she was like, I am kind

15:45

of done with Karate. I want to try something else. My

15:49

first instinct is you have to at

15:51

least do the year. Or do I

15:53

just respect that she doesn't want to do

15:56

this anymore

15:57

and let her try something else? balance

16:00

between teaching

16:02

a life lesson and allowing

16:05

your child of freedom to make their own decisions.

16:08

How do you balance that?

16:09

Yeah, it's a hard one. Declan

16:12

is one of those guys that is really

16:15

empathetic and lovely,

16:18

but sometimes I wonder if

16:20

he's a little too that side. Is the world

16:22

a bit meaner than that? He

16:24

was running a race at school and he was out

16:26

at the front

16:27

of the race and he was doing great and then he got to

16:29

a muddy puddle so we stepped to the side

16:32

to help everybody

16:33

over the muddy puddle and

16:35

then ended up coming in second last in

16:38

the race. The competitive man

16:41

in me says, come

16:43

on, get to the front. You were at the front. You could have

16:46

been on, got a medal there.

16:48

Then I wonder, am

16:50

I the right type of guy? We have

16:52

lots of me's in the world, lots

16:54

of competitive push to the

16:56

front kind of guys. Maybe

16:59

we need more of him.

17:00

Maybe we need the ones that help

17:02

their team over the puddle. So I

17:05

kind of struggle like you're describing with

17:07

whether to push or

17:10

whether to just let him

17:11

be himself a little bit and see trust

17:14

that he's going to flourish

17:16

in his own way.

17:17

In figuring that out, I

17:20

feel like I have to figure out how much of this

17:22

is a me problem.

17:24

I did think part

17:26

of the advice is don't be

17:28

me. This is how I've lived my

17:30

life and how I

17:33

think it's positive, but he's

17:35

not going to grow up to be me. He should grow up to be him.

17:37

Sometimes I have to be conscious that

17:40

some of the things that I might

17:42

put onto my kids are things that I wanted

17:45

for myself.

17:46

I can't do that

17:48

to them.

17:49

I, like you say, just have to let them develop

17:52

into the characters that they are.

17:54

So I'm currently walking that rope.

17:57

I don't know when we stop walking that rope, unfortunately,

17:59

I guess.

17:59

My son had an opportunity recently to be on the

18:02

stage here in Belfast. There's

18:04

a big old grand opera heist that I've been going to

18:06

since I was young, and I would have loved

18:08

to be on stage there. It would have been

18:10

a dream of mine. He

18:13

wasn't interested. Just point blank, not

18:16

something he wants to do. While

18:18

I personally believe, you know, volunteer

18:20

for everything, get yourself up there. You never

18:23

know what's going to come of it. At the same

18:25

time, I have to reflect on my

18:27

own advice and say it, but in the end of the day,

18:29

if you know, honestly,

18:31

that you're not motivated by laziness, you're not

18:33

motivated by a desire

18:35

to play the PlayStation, if it's genuinely something

18:37

you don't want to be involved in, then good. I'm

18:40

glad you can recognise that in yourself

18:42

and focus on the things you do want to be involved

18:44

in.

18:49

I

18:49

had my daughter first, obviously, and then

18:51

I had my son and that was a completely different experience.

18:55

Whereas my daughter could sit in a corner and

18:58

play happily by herself and read a

19:00

book, my son is not.

19:03

He's climbing things and jumping

19:06

off things to see how far he can reach

19:08

and that type of thing. So

19:10

yeah, that's a perfect example

19:12

though. Now, I'm going to say hi. I have

19:15

the exact opposite experience. My son

19:17

is gentle in reading and

19:20

will sit and come over and give you a hug. I

19:22

cry all the time at

19:24

any Disney movie. Moana, just put

19:26

the soundtrack on and I'm in tears. He'll

19:29

come over and give me a hug. My daughter

19:31

is basically noise rolled in dirt. She

19:34

is bouncing off the walls. She

19:36

travels by cartwheel. She can't walk

19:38

anywhere. She has to cartwheel everywhere. So

19:42

whether it's boys or girls,

19:44

I think maybe it's just personality. They

19:46

complement each other well.

19:48

My son is only

19:50

three. He needs to know why we're doing everything. So I can't

19:53

believe it's going to pick up again when he's 10.

19:55

I'm so glad I have the answer about light refracting.

19:57

Yeah, absolutely. But

20:01

why, and I'm going to ask why

20:03

as well, why is that so important for

20:05

you?

20:06

I think what I see

20:08

in the world as I get older and

20:10

more cynical is this misinformation

20:14

age. And that's the bit

20:16

that kind of concerns me. So

20:18

I try to educate my son and my daughter

20:20

that whenever they are making statements,

20:24

why do I believe such a thing? And I

20:26

think that's really important. You try and get him to go and back

20:28

up things that he learns on YouTube.

20:30

So there's

20:32

fly the plane, there's volunteer,

20:35

and keep asking why. Do

20:37

you see a difference between raising your son and your daughter?

20:40

To be honest with you, no, I don't. I find

20:42

this quite a difficult part of

20:45

thinking about how to write this letter solely

20:47

to my son because all

20:50

of this is exactly advice

20:52

for her as well. Being a good person is

20:54

not

20:55

just being a good man or a good woman,

20:57

really. It's just being a good person, full stop.

21:00

What have been your experiences then as

21:02

you've gone from boy to young man?

21:06

I only ask this because I don't

21:08

know. So I'll never be able

21:11

to talk to my son about what

21:13

it's like to be a man. And I ask

21:15

this just as a woman and as a

21:17

mother to a boy. Are

21:19

there times where you feel like, oh,

21:22

gosh, OK, this is what it feels like to be a man?

21:25

I think it's an important conversation

21:27

that we have now about this

21:29

idea of

21:30

being a man, this man

21:32

up masculine mentality.

21:35

I think it's quite easy as a group

21:37

of guys to fall into that

21:41

locker room chat that

21:43

people see the headlines about. And

21:47

possibly what's

21:48

my advice to my son and what I've

21:51

experienced as I grow up, you

21:54

just have to be wary of going

21:56

down the easy path when there's

21:58

a

21:58

bunch of guys to get out of

22:00

I went to an all-boys school, you know, in the 90s. You

22:03

can imagine a lot of the banter

22:06

and the conversations we had then

22:08

are entirely not acceptable nowadays. And

22:11

so I think it's just important to guide

22:13

him

22:13

in that direction, less about

22:16

growing up

22:17

as a masculine man and more

22:19

about being wary of the pitfalls of

22:21

the stereotypes of the gender in that

22:23

way.

22:24

Hmm.

22:28

So your son's 10 now, Andy, and

22:30

heading towards the teenage years. If

22:33

you got the sense that other boys

22:35

in school perhaps were going down this

22:37

very locker room banter

22:40

path... Yeah. And

22:42

I know there's a lot of pressure with boys and men

22:44

to fit in, perhaps.

22:47

What would your reaction be? What would you say to him? What

22:49

would you do?

22:50

You've got to stand up to it. You

22:52

know, I read a construct once

22:54

that really

22:56

summed it up for me, and it was called Not

22:58

My Nigel. And it was the idea that

23:01

women hear these horrible stories about

23:03

men, sexual assault, and whatever it happens

23:05

to be. And they go, oh, my Nigel wouldn't do that.

23:08

He, okay, he makes some jokes. And

23:10

okay, he talks about

23:12

women in a certain way. But he

23:15

wouldn't take it across the line.

23:17

And the thing is that

23:18

Nigel, in this particular instance, or like that

23:20

man who does take it further, he's on

23:22

WhatsApp groups with other people.

23:25

He's in the locker room. He's in the bar.

23:28

And when men are all joking,

23:30

there's someone out there that thinks it's

23:32

confirmatory behavior. And they

23:34

think that everybody thinks it's funny. So, yeah, I'll just go

23:37

ahead and do this horrible

23:39

assault that I may be imagining doing. So

23:43

I think it's extremely important for my

23:45

son as he finds himself

23:47

in those positions where the temptation

23:50

and the pull is to just fit in and just

23:52

make a knowledge joke and laugh along

23:55

with

23:55

the locker room jokes

23:57

is to stand up and go, no, actually.

23:59

I don't find that funny.

24:01

I don't find that funny, I don't find it acceptable,

24:04

and I don't think it's a way that we as

24:06

a group and as a friendship group should be

24:08

behaving. And look, I've

24:10

been 16, I appreciate that. It's

24:13

hard to face down your friends if that's how they

24:15

behave, but it's also really

24:17

important.

24:18

And how would you support him with that? There

24:20

have been times where I've faced a

24:22

similar scenario, and it is

24:25

isolating. You cease to be one

24:27

of the lads, and that can

24:29

be a little bit hard to swallow, but I would

24:32

come home to the safety of my wife, and

24:34

I would have other friendship groups that

24:36

I knew were great and were there for me

24:38

and were lovely and welcoming. And

24:41

so if I can provide for my son a safe

24:43

harbour, and also different friendship groups,

24:46

trying to provide him with wider

24:48

clubs with different people in means

24:51

that there's a bit of less pressure on that

24:53

one

24:54

sole friendship group, which in

24:56

this scenario is obviously not a positive

24:58

friendship group.

25:00

Thank you so much, Andy, for coming onto the podcast

25:03

and taking me through this different

25:06

stage in parenting, thinking about my son. Thank

25:08

you. My pleasure.

25:14

Listening to the letter that Andy wrote to his son,

25:17

and then speaking to him, I

25:19

think what he wants us to know is that we need

25:21

to look at every child as they are, and

25:24

just do your best to teach them to

25:26

be a good person. Of course,

25:29

a child's environment and the things around

25:31

them will influence their character, and

25:33

gender can affect people's experiences.

25:35

For example, you know, Andy

25:38

mentioned inappropriate locker room banter

25:40

that boys often experience, which

25:43

he feels people should just call out. It's

25:45

never acceptable. So

25:48

let's steer clear of,

25:49

you know, not my Nigel. He'd

25:51

never do that. My

25:54

son is so full of life, such

25:57

a joy to be around.

25:59

And I hope I give him the space that he needs

26:02

to always come to me and be able to talk

26:04

to me about some of the challenges that

26:06

he's facing. Because I do want

26:08

him to just be a good

26:09

person.

26:14

Next week, and I'm so excited,

26:16

I'll be bringing you the first of two shows

26:18

recorded in front of a live audience

26:21

in my home city of Nairobi.

26:22

Don't be shy

26:24

to ask the tough questions. You know, you have to

26:26

have a vibe and I think I want to marry my best

26:28

friend.

26:29

I don't know this and I can't imagine what my parents

26:31

are thinking. What is a vibe? What

26:34

is a vibe? What

26:36

is it?

26:44

I'm

26:44

so thrilled to be getting letters from

26:46

fans of the show. If you've

26:48

been listening and think, I have something

26:51

I want to share with my daughter or an

26:53

important woman in your life, perhaps you

26:55

consider to be like a daughter. Why

26:58

don't you get in touch? You can write

27:00

to us at bbcworldservice.com

27:02

slash dear daughter. You'll

27:05

find our privacy notice there as well.

27:09

Dear Daughter is presented by me, Namulante

27:12

Kombo and produced by me and Charlotte MacDonald with

27:14

support from Lucy Burns and Maggie Karanja. The

27:16

editor is Claire Fordham. The

27:18

production coordinators are Siobhan

27:20

Reid and Sophie Hill, mixed by Neil Churchill. The

27:24

music composed by Justin Nichols. John

27:27

Manel is the podcast commissioning editor. See

27:30

you next

27:30

time.