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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Tuli kuuran kukkia, keväthankia tai kihlajaiskekkereitä. Löydät nyt yli tuhat pysyvästi edullista tuotetta K-ruokakaupoista. Meille Akria-eläinvakuutuksessa on tärkeää, että lemmikilläsi on mahdollisuus parhaaseen hoitoon. Eläinvakuutuksemme tarjoavat sopivan turvan kaikenlaisiin tarpeisiin. Sinä valitset vakuutuksen laajuuden, me tarjoamme maksuttoman etäeläinlääkärin sekä nopean suorakorvauksen klinikan kassalla.
Hi, I'm Ivana Davidovic, the host of the latest season of World of Secrets, the BBC's Global Investigations podcast. I thought you might like to listen to Searching for Soldier Dad, a series that tells you the story of DNA detectives tracking down the British soldiers who fathered children in Kenya and then disappeared. The mothers and children were left without support. We joined the quest for justice.
Here's episode one. To hear more, search World of Secrets wherever you get your BBC podcasts. When Kathy is a little kid, she sees what's there and barely notices what's absent. Her mum is the centre of her world. The thought of a dad doesn't even cross her mind.
I've never really had like a dad, so to know what that feeling is, to actually miss. You can't miss something that you've never had. Then one day, there is an event at her primary school, and her mum Maggie attends. Other parents are coming, you know, father and mother, and I was just me. It's in this moment, watching her classmates, that a question forms in Kathy's mind.
Sitten kun menimme takaisin kotiin, menimme syömään ja minulle tuli kysymys, että miksi minulla ei ole isoa isoa, koska kaikilla on isoa isoa koulussa ja minulla ei ole isoa isoa isoa. Kathy on kasvanut Manukiin, Keniaan, Eestis-Afrikassa. Ja hän näyttää erilaiselta koulutukseen. Hänet on lyhyempiä, hänellä on erilainen teksti.
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Chapter 2: Why does Cathy start questioning her father's absence?
Maggie says that when she was growing up, Nanuki was known as British Town. That's because it's home to an army base.
Kathy's mum tells her that her dad was a soldier, a British soldier. She told me that he was deployed to Afghanistan. I thought, oh, he died in the war. We see movies all the time and many people die in movies. That's what I told her because she's young to understand. What could I have told her? I just told her, I think he's dead. That's what I answered very comfortably.
Kathy on vaikea ajatella isänsä. Se on kuin katastrofi. Kun kuvia kristallisee, se pysyy. Mutta yksi asia on selkeä. Hän oli sotilas. Hero. Kun ystäviä kysyvät hänestä, hän kertoo, että isäni oli sotilas ja hän kuoli sotilassa. Tämä tarina tulee osa Kathy-tarinaa, kun hän on 10-vuotias.
There was a time mum was like, don't go on Facebook, don't do this and this and this. You cannot tell a child don't do this and expect them to not do it. You will do it. You will do it. Kathy takes her mum's phone and starts scrolling through her Facebook account.
I was like, what's this she's telling me not to scroll on? It's just Facebook. So I start scrolling and scrolling and then all of a sudden I see someone with the same name as me. And I've never heard another name like mine. So I was like... All Kathy has left of her dad is his surname. I go up to her and I'm like, mum, mum, who's this? Why does he have my name? And she's like...
It's Kathy's dad. The soldier. The war hero. He's there, smiling out of the screen. Very much not dead.
All the stories Kathy had told herself about him evaporate. Questions tumble through her mind. If he's alive, then where is he? Why did he leave? With her mum's encouragement, 10-year-old Kathy opens a Facebook account and begins to write a message.
She tried also to tell him, you know, I can't sleep because I'm thinking with my father. It was a touching message because it made me cry when I read it. Yeah, she read it and she cried. I was like, mum, why are you crying? She's like, nothing. It's nothing. I'm like, that has to be something. You're crying. Because now I knew how she was feeling. She told the father, you know, I've been told by my mum, you're a good person. What happened? Why did you leave me?
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Chapter 3: What secret does Maggie reveal about Cathy's father?
Then she hits send. There's nothing more she can do but wait for a reply. It's a wait that stretches from days to weeks and then to years. She feels completely isolated, but I've discovered she's far from alone.
This moment, as she stares in disbelief at her dad's Facebook profile, is the beginning of a nine-year quest to get answers. Her journey will put her on a path she never thought possible. It will bring her into contact with lawyers and DNA detectives from across the world. She'll discover that her story is part of a bigger pattern, one whose implications go to the very highest levels of power.
This is World of Secrets, season 12. Searching for Soldier Dad, a BBC World Service investigation. I'm Ivana Davidovic, a BBC journalist. For the past two years I've been following a cutting edge project to locate absentee military fathers and expose a scandal that has hidden in plain sight for decades. Episode 1, Love Story.
I first meet Maggie and her daughter Kathy in December 24 in their hometown of Nanuki. We approach the town on a wide dusty highway. It's at the base of Mount Kenya, Africa's second highest mountain. I can see the outline of its jagged snow-capped peak through the clouds in the distance.
To one side of the road is a big yellow sign. It's stained by traffic fumes and surrounded by people posing for photos. On the sign there is a black silhouette of the African continent, telling us that we're bang on the equator. I might be every day for you, but I'm very far from equator. So for me this is very exciting.
As we drive into the center, shopping malls flank the road. Side streets bustle with market stalls piled high with vegetables. Motorcycle taxis are touting for business. We stop at a mall for lunch. And suddenly I feel like I've stepped out of Kenya. There is an American fast food chain where almost every customer is a British soldier, most in uniform.
I'm struck by how young some of them look in their bulky military uniforms, eating fries out of paper bags and sipping from large soft drink cups.
British military's fingerprints are all over this region. The army base outside of Nanuki is their biggest in Africa. The British army set up training camps here after Kenya gained independence from the British in the 60s. It's known as Batuk, or the British Army Training Unit Kenya. And every year, around 5,000 personnel pass through it. The combination of sandy and mountainous terrain is the perfect environment to train for combat overseas.
Yhdysvaltojen kanssa tulee rahaa. Kaupungin kaupungin paikoilla on hienoja kokemuksia, paikoja ja klubit, joissa huomasin, että vihreät naiset ja usein nuorempia, glamourisempia Kenian naisia ovat yleensä tapahtumassa.
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Chapter 4: How does Kathy's discovery of her father's Facebook profile change her life?
Maggi on 26-vuotias. Hän työskentelee ympäristössä ympäristössä. Kun on loppupuoli, hän tuntuu kestävän ystävänsä. Naniuki ei ole kovin lähellä maata, mutta se näyttää ympäristöstä. Tiki-tyyli ja kenian musiikki näyttävät ääntä ääntä.
Suomalaisessa puulutapassa viisi valkoisia miltäryhtiöllä yksilöitä kohdattiin Kenian naisia. Vaikka on yleistä nähdä sotilaita Britannian miltäryhtiöllä, Maggie ei ole koskaan puhunut niistä. Meidän suurin osa, jotka eivät osallistuneet niihin, on tärkeitä niistä. Maggie sanoo, että nainen on yhdessä naisista. Me olimme kutsuneet heitä prostituutiksi, ja he olivat kutsuneet meitä työpaikalla. Työpaikalla naiset ja seksikäytäriä.
Nämä kaksi ryhmää menisivät saman paikan, elivät saman alueen, mutta he välttivät toisistaan. Maggie sanoo, että Nanuki on reputatiivinen. Maggie had learned not to tell people where she's from, in case they assume she's a sex worker too. So, sitting at the bar, Maggie doesn't pay the British soldiers much attention. But they are paying attention to her. Charming. Yeah.
Maggie finishes her lunch and is walking down the stone steps when one of the Kenyan women, who was with the soldiers, catches up with her. She's wary, but also flattered. Maggie doesn't have a phone of her own, so gives her friend's number. That evening, her friend gets a call. She rushes around to Maggie's house. On the other end of the line is the voice of a British man. He says his name is Phil.
He's not how she expected him to be. He seems shy and sweet and he asks when he can see her again. She's cautious, but there is something about his soft demeanor that makes her curious. So they arrange to meet back at the restaurant the following morning. We came upstairs, we talked.
He's a few years older than Maggie and she's struck by how handsome he is. He's tall with dark hair and a cheeky grin. But it's not just compliments that Phil gives her.
He hands over 10,000 Kenyan shillings in cash, or about 125 US dollars. That's when I was like, OK. Wait, can I just interrupt you? Did you think it was strange that you met him for the first time, basically, one-on-one, and he offered you 10,000 straight away? It was weird, but like... Did he think that you were a prostitute? I'm just sorry for me asking like that, but I don't know why he would offer you... Yeah, that's why I told you he respected me, like he didn't...
Hän ei lähettänyt minua niin kuin haluaisin. Hän ei edes kysynyt minua seksistä. Maggie löytää Philin rauhallisuutta. Hän on arvokas. He tietävät yhdessä viikkoja ennen kuin he keskustelevat yhdessä. Ensin he keskustelevat päivän aikana. He puhuvat, harjoittelevat, pelaavat poolia. Maggie on vanhempi Raja. Phil on aina kysynyt hänestä, ja joskus hän ostaa hänelle rauhoja.
Maggie says he makes her feel like the center of his world. In my heart I was like...
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Chapter 5: What challenges does Maggie face after Phil's departure?
Salkku X. Tapaamme jälleen viisi numeroa, viisi vihjettä, arvauksia, päättelyä, poveria. Palkintona XPEN G6 sähköauto täysin omaksi. Kymmenen viikkoa aikaa ratkaista koodiosoitteessa power.fi kautta X. Älä jää kyydistä.
Tuli kuuran kukkia, keväthankia tai kihlajaiskekkereitä. Löydät nyt yli tuhat pysyvästi edullista tuotetta K-ruokakaupoista. Meille Akria-eläinvakuutuksessa on tärkeää, että lemmikilläsi on mahdollisuus parhaaseen hoitoon. Eläinvakuutuksemme tarjoavat sopivan turvan kaikenlaisiin tarpeisiin. Sinä valitset vakuutuksen laajuuden, me tarjoamme maksuttoman etäeläinlääkärin sekä nopean suorakorvauksen klinikan kassalla.
So this is where you lived? I used to live here. Let me show you my gates. Maggie has taken me to where she lived when she was engaged to Phil. The river is behind here. We could hear the sounds of the river when we were sleeping. It's like rain. It's peaceful. About a dozen bungalows in a U-shape, with driveways and neat gardens out the front. I used to live here.
This is where Kathy was born. Being here, it's clear that Maggie had everything she could have wanted. A fiancé she loved, a house and garden to raise their children in. She had no reason to suspect that anything was amiss. Back in 2006, Phil is on deployment in Germany when Kathy is born. He's paying Maggie's rent and sending money every month for the baby.
And he writes to Maggie regularly. I've seen some of the letters. They bear the British military stamp for each of the operations he's part of. They're romantic and heartfelt. And he always signs off, your hubby Phil. As soon as we are married over in Kenya or in Britain...
We can get a house. I will never meet another woman like you. This is very hard. I'm not interested in anyone else but you. I won't lie to you. And I promise you that I'll always keep my word to you, Maggie. I will never cheat on you. Mine is yours and anything you want, you will have. I will break my own back to make you happy.
When Kathy is seven months old, Phil is given leave and comes to meet his daughter for the first time. At this point, Maggie and Phil have not seen each other for over a year. Maggie collects him from Nairobi airport. When they drive up to the house, the nanny brings out Kathy, or Kate as her mum calls her, in her arms. He was very happy. Actually he used to hold Kate when we walked around. Kate was always in his hands.
They'd go for lunch back at the restaurant where they met, Kathy sitting on Phil's lap. Yeah, it was fun. It was a family. A real family, right? Yeah, it was. And he was like, I can't wait to take this baby to my country and everybody see my kid, you know, the sisters and the mother. And he was like, my baby is not going to get Kenyan passport, no blue passport, it's a red passport, you know.
Her head full of the promise of British passports for her and her child, Maggie starts dreaming of a life in the UK. She'll open her own restaurant and live as a family with Phil, Kathy and Roger. For four weeks Phil stays with Maggie and Kathy. They love going on long walks with the baby in a sling. But it can't last forever. Phil has to return to his deployment. On his last day in Kenya, she drives him back to the airport.
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Chapter 6: How do Maggie and Kathy cope with financial struggles?
Maggie is frantic. Has something happened to him? In desperation she calls his mum. Phil's mum assures Maggie that he is alive. But she also says that her son is an adult and she can't force him to be in contact. Maggie's heart sinks. That's when I start now with Facebook. And then he will block me. I can't see him. I open another account. I text him. It will go through. Then he will block me.
This continues for five years. She keeps replaying every conversation they've ever had in her head and re-reading the messages over and over, looking for clues as to why he left. She cannot forget him and can't let go.
But she has to carry on. I had so many sleepless nights. And I will wake up early in the morning to go to work. I'll come home tired. There is my kids. And I'm thinking, they need to live, they need to survive, they need to go to school. So I think I will get back to my feet and start taking care of my kids. And that's what I did. She runs a small kitchen inside a pub. Then she leases some land to farm vegetables. And for years she manages to keep things afloat.
But by the time Kathy turns 15, their fortunes take a turn for the worse. Maggie's business suffers a shock. Cattle destroy her crops, and then she loses everything. After years of raising her two kids independently, it all starts falling apart. She has no safety net, no one to turn to, and she falls into serious debt.
Her health is impacted by the stress. She loses weight. She can't pay the rent and is reduced to sofa surfing with friends and family. Her thoughts turn again to Phil. Where is he? She even tells her story to the Kenyan media, hoping they can track him down. But it makes no difference.
Then, out of the blue, she gets a call from a young lawyer in Nanuki. Some western scientists and lawyers are coming to town. He's talking about DNA samples, databases, court cases. It's too much for Maggie to process. She worries it could be a scam. But she's desperate for answers for her and her daughter. The phone call ends and she takes a deep breath.
Maybe it's worth one more shot. So you guys have all been waiting very patiently. I see you kids are waiting very patiently as well. So thank you so much for listening to us. Should we get started? It's December 2024.
Noin puoliväliä kenyäniä naiset ovat rauhoittaneet hot roomin takana kafeissa Nanukiin. He asuvat plastikkoissa, joissa on pieniä lapsia. Onko hyvä, jos Joe kuvataan vähän introa? Ei ole kameraa, vaan mikrofonia. Olen täällä produksessani Josefineen kanssa. Olemme keskittyneet kuulemaan pioneering legal schemea, joka voisi muodostaa näiden naisen ja lapsen elämää.
One side of the room is a fresh-faced lawyer. He is tall and slim, a white guy with neat brown hair. He looks uncomfortably hot in his shirt and tie. Next to him is an older white man in his 50s with ashy blonde hair.
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Chapter 7: What prompts Maggie to seek help from DNA detectives?
Me raskataan kafeissa ulkomaalaisessa paikassa, mikrofonilla yritetään puhua kaikille. Sinun lapsesi on nyt 8, onko se oikein? Kyllä. Mitä hänen nimensä on? Meillä on monia tarinoita. Joten sinut tapasit kaupungissa, olet ensimmäinen. Yksi yöpäiväinen paikka ja viikonlainen flingi hotellissa. Ja on myös muita. Hän antoi minulle rinkin. Hän antoi sinulle rinkin? Kyllä. Ihmisiä, jotka uskoivat, että he olivat yhdessä yhdessä.
One woman tells me she lived with her boyfriend and their son for three years before he went back to the UK for a holiday. After a text saying he'd landed, he was never heard from again. I struggled to live with my son or another.
I can relate. I was a single mom myself in my early twenties. I know how difficult it can be. But my jaw drops at some of the hardships these families have endured. One woman tells me her son had cholera as they had no access to safe drinking water and she could barely afford to treat him.
But this is about so much more than irresponsible dads and single moms. The fathers of these children could be considered representatives of the British state. A state that once ruled this country and whose legacy here is inescapable. And these children are often living in unimaginable circumstances. Their mothers powerless to demand financial support.
Hello, I'm Elizabeth. Nice to meet you. Yvonne, pleasure. What's your name?
Toisena päivänä DNA-todistuksen jälkeen enemmän vanhemmat ja heidän lapsensa on tullut. Ja täällä olen ensimmäisen kerran tutustunut Maggielle ja Kathylle. Kun aloitamme puhumaan ensimmäisen kerran, heidän ympäristönsä lähtee minuun. Sitten menemme puhumaan ulkopuolella, jossa on valkoisia ja tropiilisia vihreämpiä. Kathy on iso ja valkoisi, ja on pitkäaikaiset, vihreät ja vihreä hiukka. Luulen, että Maggie on edelleen puhumassa liikunnan, jonka Kathyn isä antoi hänelle.
Is it odd to you that your mum still wears your father's ring? Let's just say if I was in the position I would have thrown it away a long time ago. Because it's a constant reminder of something that was to happen, didn't happen. To me she's the reminder. I don't see the ring, I see her.
Nyt 18-vuotias, Kathy on juuri loppunut kouluun. Mutta hän sanoo, että hän ei voi aloittaa, kun hänen isänsä pysyy 100 dollaria. Jotenkin, mitä he eivät voida. Mutta se ei ole vain rahaa. Kathy haluaa tunnella isänsä, jotta hän voi tunnella itseään.
Olen insomniakki, joten ylös katsoin, että jos hän olisi edelleen täällä, tämä olisi voinut olla elämäni. Tämä olisi voinut tapahtua, olisin onnellinen, en olisi käynyt depressiota, en olisi tehnyt niin monta asiaa, olisin vain onnellinen. Mutta kun katsoin takaisin, ajattelin, että mitä jos se olisi parempi, että isäni rakensi minut. Hän on opettanut minua olemaan varmaa, hän on opettanut minua olemaan vahvaa, hän on opettanut minulle kaikkea. Hän on opettanut minulle, miten olen itse.
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