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Outlook: A girl on the run and a girl with no name

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A girl on the run and a girl with no name

06/07/2020 GMT

BBC World Service - Outlook, A girl on the run and a girl with no name

To celebrate Outlook's birthday, we're hearing from listeners with stories of their own

To celebrate Outlook's 54th birthday, we're hearing from two of our listeners who sent us extraordinary stories of their own

It's Outlook's 54th year on air and to celebrate, we're letting our listeners take over today's programme.  
 
Margo Perin is an Outlook listener with a story of her own. As a child in the USA she was constantly on the move, with a new surname and address every few years. Unsure of what her father really did for a living, her childhood was shrouded in mystery. It wasn't until she was much older that she'd come to understand her family's secrets, and why they were on the run. She spoke to Outlook's Emily Webb.
 
Peter van Straten is another listener who sent a remarkable story our way, this time about his friend Mandisa Gushu, who grew up in a dysfunctional home in one of the poorest parts of South Africa. Her alcoholic mother never gave her a proper name, so on her first day at school she chose the name Mandisa, which means 'make happy’. Despite her difficult start she managed to get through school and nursing college and is now working at a hospital in the UK. 
 
We always love to receive stories from our listeners. If you have a story you want told, or know somebody else who does, email us at outlook@bbc.co.uk
 
Picture: Margo Perin
Credit: Margo Perin

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