Roisin Ingle
π€ SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
For me, because I do love the way, and you said about it earlier, that it's not just romantic love.
There's all sorts of love in this and there's motherly love.
was a very strong story for me and it's from Nigeria.
Tell me about that mother that you met and the extraordinary way that she expressed that protective love of a mother in a really difficult situation.
And she's only, what, 12, 13?
They would take people that age and go off and marry them off to people.
So first of all, let's go back to the dugout.
She dug this sort of hole in the ground and that's where she put her daughter.
And cover it with a tent above so that if you looked at it, you wouldn't see that there was anything there.
And that's how she literally hid her daughter away with some provisions and food underneath.
I mean, the extent she went to to make sure these people didn't find her.
But then she also pretended to be mad, which would mean culturally these people, the Boko Haram, wouldn't want to touch her because she might kind of corrupt them or taint them.
And she covered herself with feces, with urine so that she would be so repellent.
And you also mentioned that they are kind of quite extraordinary stories because they still have their children as a result, even though Zainaboo's husband was killed.
But then you see all these other women who just haven't been able to protect their children, obviously would have tried and done everything they can, but who are just still searching for them.
This really painful thing where they're still looking for these children who are, you know, they'll probably never see again.
It's heartbreaking to think of it.
And you sort of know that they're probably never going to find them, but they're still trying.
And in some of the places that you've been, there's kind of been a crackdown on love.
Dating can be difficult, getting married.