Sweet surprise: I found my birth mother in my local bakery

A bonus episode from Dear Daughter - the award-winning podcast from the BBC World Service. You can find more episodes by searching for 'Dear Daughter' wherever you get your BBC podcasts.Bridgerton actor Adjoa Andoh joins Namulanta in the studio to share the letter she's written to her three children. She tells them the importance of trusting their bodies and following their instincts - a life philosophy which has sometimes led her into some unexpected situations, especially while pregnant...Dear Daughter is a podcast all about love, life, family, and raising children. It is the brainchild of Namulanta Kombo, a mother on a quest to create a 'handbook to life' for her daughter, through the advice of parents from all over the world.Each episode, a guest reads a letter they've written to their children (or their future children, or the children they never had) with the advice, life lessons, and personal stories they'd like to pass on.Expect extraordinary true stories, inspirational advice for parents, and moving accounts of families, relationships and raising daughters.Share your letter! What do you want to say to your kids? Or the next generation? Do you have thoughts on motherhood, fatherhood, or parenthood to share? Whether you are a mum or mom, dad or papa, grandparent, uncle, aunt, daughter, son or just want to write a letter, send us a Whatsapp message on +44 800 030 4404 or visit bbcworldservice.com/deardaughter.You can read our privacy notice here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3ZFHNV8v7qgTm1zbKbkwsvR/dear-daughter-privacy-notice

2 Apr 26min

How a book-loving prisoner showed a young Alex Wheatle the path to self-belief.Alex had been born in London to Jamaican parents, but grew up in care in the notorious Shirley Oaks children’s home. As a teenager, he was convicted of assaulting a police officer during the Brixton Riots. He felt totally alone and without hope. But as the door slammed on Alex’s prison cell, he met a book-loving man called Simeon who opened his eyes to the importance of his own history – and encouraged him to use his past to write a new and hopeful future. This was originally broadcast in December 2023.Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Hetal Bapodra and Anna Lacey Get in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784

30 Mars 41min

Michael Visontay thought he knew everything about his family’s past, but there was one shadowy character he was aching to know more about: his grandfather’s second wife, Olga. As Michael went through old papers, he uncovered a trail to the world’s most coveted book, the Gutenberg Bible – a rare antique printed in the 1450s – and the scandalous scheme to break it up.Presenter: Asya Fouks Producer: Maryam MarufGet in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784

24 Mars 40min

ANC spy Sue Dobson infiltrated the South African government. Then her cover was blown. After training, Sue had got a job within the government's propaganda unit, and she was feeding back good intelligence to her ANC handlers. Then she got a phone call. The security services were on to her, and she was a long way from safety. Presenter: India Rakusen Producer: Harry Graham Editor: Deiniol Buxton Sound design: Joel Cox

17 Mars 41min

Sue Dobson was a white South African who risked her life as an ANC secret agentSue was a student when she was first recruited as a spy for the African National Congress liberation movement in the 1980s, and she knew that if she was caught she'd face prison, torture or death. Sue's mission would require her to infiltrate the pro-apartheid media establishment, but first she needed to learn spycraft and weapons handling. Her training would take place in Soviet Russia. Presenter: India Rakusen Producer: Harry Graham Editor: Deiniol Buxton Sound design: Joel Cox

10 Mars 40min

Edith Blais was kidnapped by armed militants and held captive in the Sahara for 450 days.As a young French-Canadian who had overcome her teenage agoraphobia, Edith took several years to work up the courage to go travelling – but once she did it, she got the bug. In 2018 she backpacked to West Africa with her good friend Luca Tacchetto. When they got to Benin they were kidnapped by armed militants and taken to the desert in a lawless area of Mali, where groups linked to al-Qaeda were known to operate.The couple pretended to be husband and wife so they could stay together but Edith soon found herself held captive alone, kept in isolation for long periods of time. As well as suffering physically with dehydration and starvation, she had to find different techniques to keep her mind strong and stay sane. A borrowed pen enabled her to write poetry, and she sang songs to remind herself of her own voice.After agreeing to convert to Islam she was eventually reunited with Luca. By this time they had been held for 14 months, and they knew they had to break free. But with their captors never more than a few feet away from them, how would they do it? Edith spoke to Jo Fidgen in 2021 about how forces of nature aided their staggering escape. Edith's book about her time in captivity is called The Weight of Sand.Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Katy TakatsukiPicture: Edith Blais Credit: Sara Mauve RavenelleGet in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784

3 Mars 1h 2min

As a boy, Ishmael Beah was forced to kill. How do you turn a soldier back into a child? Ishmael Beah was just 13 when war reached his village in Sierra Leone and he was made to flee. In the chaos, he was separated from his family. He ended up with a group of other children at what they thought was the safety of an army base. But instead, he was taught to become a hardened killer and sent out to fight. Nearly three years went by before he was finally rescued by child protection specialists from Unicef, but he was so brainwashed that he didn’t want to leave. It took months of careful rehabilitation and the support of a very special woman to break down his defences.In 1996, at the age of just 16, he gave a speech at the UN in New York where he recalled his experiences. His testimony formed part of a pivotal report into the impact of armed conflict on children. A decade later, he would become the first Unicef Advocated for Children Affected by War. Today he is a bestselling author and married with three children. This interview was recorded in 2020. This interview contains disturbing descriptions of violence.Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producers: Edgar Maddicott and Jo Impey Editor: Munazza KhanPhoto: Ishmael Beah Credit: Priscillia Kounkou HoveydaGet in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784

24 Feb 40min

In 1942, several years into the Second World War, the British government sent out a series of bulletins requesting any personal photos the public might have of the French coastline. Odette Hallowes, a French woman living in the UK with her three young children, answered the call and was invited to London where she was offered a role in the Special Operations Executive (SOE). The SOE, formed under the direct orders of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, aimed to create a top-secret underground army to help local resistance movements and conduct espionage and sabotage in enemy-held territories. Odette eventually agreed and arrived in France in November 1942, where she worked undercover, under the code-name ‘Lise’.The following year, Odette was captured, interrogated, and tortured by the Gestapo. She was sentenced to death and transported to Ravensbrück, a concentration camp for women in northern Germany. In the midst of her suffering and isolation, Odette found solace in the most unexpected form – a tiny, beautiful green leaf on the otherwise desolate camp grounds. This leaf became her lifeline, a symbol of freedom beyond the prison walls.Shortly after her 33rd birthday and with the war coming to a close, Odette was handed over to the advancing American army and eventually reunited with her children. For her remarkable bravery and stark refusal to betray her fellow secret agents, she was awarded both the George Cross and France's Légion d'Honneur. She even had a major film made about her.Almost 80 years later, Odette’s granddaughter, Sophie Parker was looking through some of Odette's possessions when she rediscovered that tiny leaf. As Sophie recounts, this leaf wasn’t just a piece of foliage; it symbolised hope and survival and became a tangible connection to her grandmother's incredible story.Presenter: Asya Fouks Producer: Thomas Harding AssinderGet in touch: liveslessordinary@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784

17 Feb 40min