Ep03. When Sons Become Fathers w/ Ahmed Sameh

Do you remember causing mischief? Are you currently causing mischief? What happens when you’re discovered causing said mischief? How do authority figures (like your parents!) react?

We present you today with the third episode, covering real stories of people who inspired me to write this novel. Namely, Chapter 3, where Maskat is running around with his friends Jay and Chiumbo and they are up to wreak some havoc on Lamu Town. Maskat wants to connect with others and he joins the ride to be cool, and to be a man.

The plot twist in the very end is inspired by Ahmed Sameh, who I interview in this episode. We cover:

• Plenty of our own stories as boys doing “wrong” things and how our parents reacted to us.
• Sameh’s own experience with his son now doing the same thing to him and his struggle is not making his son fear him like he feared his dad.
• What kind of world we would like to create, so that Sameh’s newborn daughter does not have to go through a lot of women go through today.
• A little bit about African Crossroads, and what the future of Africa might look like. (There is so much more that he ahd to say about this, so if you like the last part I’ll post another episode with that part of the conversation.)

Let us know what you think!

Definitely read the third chapter first to avoid any spoilers!