Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Why grandparents are important
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Why grandparents are important
Asked to describe your grandparents, you may conjure fond childhood memories of trips to the park or going round for your favourite dinner after school. You may live just around the corner and see your grandparents daily or they might be a welcome voice on the phone, brightening your day from afar.
Elaine Chong discovers just why it is that grandparents matter so much to us and she finds out what happens when grandparents step in to raise their grandchildren.
In the township of Umlazi, near Durban in South Africa, she meets a group of grandmothers who are raising their grandchildren singlehandedly, after the children lost their parents in the Aids pandemic.
She uncovers research showing grandmothers have played a vital role in the survival of their grandchildren for centuries, especially before modern medicine and support services existed.
She hears the incredible story of an 11-year-old boy who is being raised by his grandparents and repays their devotion, by saving his grandad’s life.
Have you ever stopped to consider why your grandparents hold such a dear place in your heart?
Elaine hears evidence all those childhood visits, trips and gatherings play an important and lasting role in shaping our personalities.
Presenter: Elaine Chong
Producers: Ben Robinson, Nicola Dowling and Carl Johnston
Editor: Andy Smith
(Photo:Grandmother’s at the Community Centre, Umlazi, South Africa. Credit Nkosinathi Shange)
View all episodes
By BBC World Service
4.6
182182 ratings
Asked to describe your grandparents, you may conjure fond childhood memories of trips to the park or going round for your favourite dinner after school. You may live just around the corner and see your grandparents daily or they might be a welcome voice on the phone, brightening your day from afar.
Elaine Chong discovers just why it is that grandparents matter so much to us and she finds out what happens when grandparents step in to raise their grandchildren.
In the township of Umlazi, near Durban in South Africa, she meets a group of grandmothers who are raising their grandchildren singlehandedly, after the children lost their parents in the Aids pandemic.
She uncovers research showing grandmothers have played a vital role in the survival of their grandchildren for centuries, especially before modern medicine and support services existed.
She hears the incredible story of an 11-year-old boy who is being raised by his grandparents and repays their devotion, by saving his grandad’s life.
Have you ever stopped to consider why your grandparents hold such a dear place in your heart?
Elaine hears evidence all those childhood visits, trips and gatherings play an important and lasting role in shaping our personalities.
Presenter: Elaine Chong
Producers: Ben Robinson, Nicola Dowling and Carl Johnston
Editor: Andy Smith
(Photo:Grandmother’s at the Community Centre, Umlazi, South Africa. Credit Nkosinathi Shange)
More shows like The Why Factor
View all
Stuff You Should Know
78,636 Listeners
TED Talks Daily
10,927 Listeners
99% Invisible
26,197 Listeners
Global News Podcast
7,639 Listeners
From Our Own Correspondent
375 Listeners
More or Less
876 Listeners
Newshour
1,046 Listeners
In Our Time
5,520 Listeners
The Documentary Podcast
1,799 Listeners
6 Minute English
1,763 Listeners
Learning English Conversations
1,049 Listeners
The Infinite Monkey Cage
1,920 Listeners
The Naked Scientists Podcast
599 Listeners
Discovery
965 Listeners
The Audio Long Read
849 Listeners
13 Minutes
4,159 Listeners
You're Dead to Me
3,177 Listeners
Americast
720 Listeners
The Rest Is History
15,592 Listeners
Unexplainable
2,306 Listeners
Dish
767 Listeners