'Russia formed me' - The odyssey of a people-trafficked poet
Eric Ngalle Charles was just a teenager when he was taken from Cameroon to Moscow. Decades on, his experiences there still inspire his poetry.
Eric Ngalle is now a poet and academic in the Welsh capital of Cardiff, but it's his experiences as a people-trafficked teenager that inspire much of his work. When he was 17, he found himself broke and alone in Moscow, freezing cold and unable to speak a word of Russian. To survive, he relied on charity, girlfriends, and a brief stripping career. None of this was enough to buy him a ticket home to Cameroon, so he got involved in a high-risk scam, which targeted some very dangerous people.
If you鈥檝e been affected by anything you heard in this interview, support is available through the 蜜芽传媒 Action Line website or via Befrienders Worldwide.
Presenter: Asya Fouks
Producer: Harry Graham
Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707
(Photo: Eric Ngalle. Credit: Eric Ngalle)
Last on
Broadcasts
- Tue 31 Oct 2023 12:06GMT蜜芽传媒 World Service
- Tue 31 Oct 2023 18:06GMT蜜芽传媒 World Service except East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa
- Tue 31 Oct 2023 23:06GMT蜜芽传媒 World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Wed 1 Nov 2023 03:06GMT蜜芽传媒 World Service
Contact Outlook
Info on how we might use your contribution on air
Podcast: Lives Less Ordinary
Step into someone else鈥檚 life and expect the unexpected