When did we lose contact with him? Probably 20 years ago. The whole country was in turmoil then. MAN ON PHONE: Goderich is a very, very congested area. During the civil war, many houses have been bombed down. Well, that makes it a bit harder. Daniel, your hope coming here ` what was that? To meet my father. I've never met him. Was angry at him. (WOMAN WAILS) WOMAN: Daniel, Daniel, Daniel, Daniel. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2020 (GENTLE MUSIC) I'm David Lomas, and I'm heading to the Auckland suburb of Avondale to meet former professional basketballer Daniel Ryan. Well, I'm born and raised in New Zealand. I've never met my father before. I know he's a seaman and that I'm looking for him. And how can I help you? Well, he's from Sierra Leone, a city called Freetown, and I don't know where to look for him, and I'd like your help. 38-year-old Daniel, a father of two, has always struggled to put into words how he feels about his birth father, a man who has always been a name in his life but who he knows so little about. I know he's about 6'6" and Black African... Yeah. What do I know? This is hard, cos I've never really spoke about him. Um... I've never met him. Couple of photos, and I've got a few letters. Daniel's mum, Jackie, was in a brief relationship with Saidu Kamara, a Muslim seaman from Sierra Leone on Central Africa's west coast. They met while Kamara's ship was in Dunedin, but Jackie only discovered she was pregnant after his ship, the Wanderer, left. Growing up, Daniel never understood why he looked so different to his friends. I definitely felt like a black sheep. For a long time, I wanted to be white. I grew up in a really white community, and it took me a long time to be able to be comfortable with who I am. I got bullied a lot. Lots of people would ask me about my dad, and I didn't have a lot of answers. All I knew was that my dad was in a different country and that one day I might get to meet him. (CHUCKLES SOFTLY) (GENTLE MUSIC) Daniel, who grew up in Dunedin, finally found his way through basketball, representing New Zealand at age-group level and then playing professional for the Otago Nuggets and other provincial teams. Did you ever wish your dad was there to watch? Absolutely, yeah. I always wished I could kick a ball with my dad or shoot hoops or just tell him what I've been able to achieve. That's definitely one thing I missed as a kid, and hopefully I can do that with my son. Ready? Come on. Throw. (YELLS, GRUNTS) Nice. You can't get it. (SQUEALS) (SQUEALS) When Daniel was 14, his mum, Jackie, married, and Daniel was adopted by her new husband, Carl Treweek. Daniel's family suddenly swelled to include a half-brother and four stepsiblings. (CHUCKLES) That's the one. Now Daniel, a call centre manager, and his partner are proud parents of 3-year-old Kelvin. Daniel also has an 8-year-old daughter, Carrington. Oh. When his basketball career waned, after he was suspended for testing positive to drugs, Daniel again struggled finding his place in the world. He now believes finding his father and his African roots will give him peace. I've got two beautiful kids. I'm just gonna help them embrace who they are, and a big part of that is finding out more about my culture, and I'm ready to do that now. Meeting him, how would that be? It would just be a miracle, to be honest. I have always thought of the moment that I'd ever get to meet him ` for most of my life, to be honest. Yeah, it'd be a dream come true. Daniel, when I told your father that I was pregnant with you, he was so excited. He used to write a lot... Kamara would write often to Jackie, asking about his son and seeking photographs of him. ...and always loved you, right from before you were born. So what did my dad used to write about me? He used to talk about how much you looked like him. He said that he always prays for you a lot and that, 'I really want to meet him,' and 'not sure how that will happen'. But about 20 years ago, the letters just stopped. He wrote to me right up until we left Dunedin. When we came to Auckland was the first time that he has not answered a letter that I've sent him. But the whole country was in turmoil then. I met Daniel's father through friends. They knew these people that were coming in on a ship that was from Africa, and they decided that they'd have a party at their house. So we all went up to their house and had a party, and I met Daniel's father, Kamara, and I stayed with him for the couple of weeks that he was in Dunedin, and out of it, I got this beautiful son, Daniel. (CHUCKLES) Even before discovering she was pregnant, Jackie and Kamara had agreed to keep in touch as friends. Jackie does not know why the letters stopped. The only thing I could think of is that he had moved or maybe married... or, um, is maybe not alive any more. I'm not sure. To find Daniel's father, I know I will need local help, and I find and call a researcher in Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital. - (LINE RINGS) - Hello, is that Abraham? Hello. Abraham Barry often helps visiting journalists. Oh, Abraham, my name's David Lomas, and I'm calling from New Zealand, and I'm looking for some help in Sierra Leone to try and find a man. We've got a couple of very old addresses, from about 20-odd years ago, in a place called Goderich, I think. OK. Well, that makes it a bit harder. OK. We'll keep in touch, then. (SEAGULL CRIES) The following week, I touch base with Abraham. ON PHONE: Hello, David. He's had no luck and suggests the best way to progress the search is for us to go door-knocking in Sierra Leone. I'm unsure what we might find there after all these years, but I decide that Daniel should go too, because at the very least, he will get an introduction to his father's homeland. (PANTS, CHUCKLES) Look who's down there. I meet Daniel and his parents back at the playground. Look ` Daddy. It's Daddy! So, I've been talking to some people in Sierra Leone and trying to do some research, but it's just going nowhere. Mm. So the option is to go there and actually search, and I was wondering whether you'd be happy to come with me and go to Sierra Leone and see if we can find out anything. What do you think? I think that'd be awesome. Yeah. (CHUCKLES) Wanna meet my dad. Yeah. And, you know, life expectancy's not great there... Mm. He was a sailor. He could be anywhere in the world. I mean, there's no guarantee of anything whatsoever. Yep. Yeah, so we could go all the way there and it be a dead end. Yep. It'd be worth it. If you find nothing or if he's not alive? Well, then I've tried to look for him, you know, and I can be at peace with myself. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. - Well, we'll go to Sierra Leone, then. - (BOTH CHUCKLE) Go and tell your mum what you're up to. CHUCKLES: I don't know if this is real or not. It really is. Jackie and Carl have always supported Daniel's search for his birth father. So we're gonna go to Sierra Leone. Yeah. Have a look. That is fabulous. Well done. Yeah. Yeah. Been a long time coming. Yeah. And you don't know who you're going to find there, do you? No. Might have a whole lot of brothers you don't know about. (CHUCKLING) And sisters, and... Yeah. Oh, well, that's really exciting. Yeah. Kelvin, I'm gonna be going to Africa to try and find my dad... and your granddad. No! (CRIES) (ALL CHUCKLE GENTLY) Not today, though. Not today. A week later, I've flown from New Zealand to West Africa, and after landing at Lungi Airport, I've taken the hour-long boat ride to Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital. Freetown's a different world. It's very hot, bustling and noisy. It's home to about one million people. The city was established in the late 1700s as a new home for the emancipated slaves from England and America. While Sierra Leone now has a stable elected government, in the early 1990s, the country was ravaged by a brutal 12-year civil war that only ended after the United Nations sent in peacekeepers. About 50,000 died in the fight for control of the country's diamond mines. Many more were mutilated or raped, some by boy soldiers as young as 8 years old. Kamara's letters stopped when the war was at its peak. I'm here to try and find out if he was one of its victims. (DRAMATIC MUSIC) VOICEOVER: Great news, New Zealand. Domino's is back. And right now, get any large pizza from just $15 delivered with zero contact delivery. I'm on the west coast of Central Africa, in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone. I'm trying to find a Muslim seaman, Saidu Karama, the father of former New Zealand professional basketballer Daniel Ryan. Nothing has been heard of Karama since the mid-1990s, when Sierra Leone was in the midst of a brutal civil war. (HORN TOOTS) First mission here is to meet researcher Abraham Ryan. He's been checking names mentioned by Kamara in his letters to Daniel's mother. Nice to meet you. Nice to meet you, David. Well, look, as I mentioned on the phone, we're trying to track down this guy, and I just want to check a few things. This lady here, Marie Kamara, who might be a relative ` I mean, no luck with her? Well, uh, I rung the Embassy, but they could not find her. No information. And what about this man? Yeah. We try, but we couldn't find him. The same thing. We couldn't find him. He called himself Kamara in New Zealand. OK, because Kamara is a very, very common name in Sierra Leone, so... Yeah. OK. So the best ones to do is go and try these addresses, 37 and 14 in Goderich. We try. We try and find something. OK. Yeah? Go and knock on the door. Exactly. (HORNS TOOT) (MYSTERIOUS MUSIC) We head along the coast to the outskirts of Freetown and on to the ramshackle fishing village of Goderich. Most homes here have no electricity, no running water, and sewage runs down sometimes open drains. Those who live here have a high risk of contracting infectious diseases. When the Ebola epidemic ripped through West Africa in 2013, about 4000 died in Sierra Leone. Life expectancy for men was, till recently, less than 40 years. So number 37 is around here somewhere. Yeah. As we start our search, I wonder about Kamara. If he has survived the war, Ebola and these living conditions, he will now be in his late 60s. Yeah, I think` 37. Is this it? Yeah. That's it. Yeah. Hello. Good afternoon. We ask for one Kamara. Kamara. Yeah, Saidu Kamara. Saidu Kamara? Yeah. (SPEAKS AFRICAN LANGUAGE) We are told a woman down a lane may be able to help us. (WOMEN SPEAK AFRICAN LANGUAGE) Ask her ` does she know who that man is? Yes, no. (SPEAKS KRIO) OK. That way. (SPEAKS KRIO) OK. (SPEAKS KRIO) Yes. Oh. She does not know him, and, worse, Kamara's house is gone. The house here is burnt down? Yeah. Exactly. All right. Hey, thank you very much. Thank you very much. Yeah. OK. Thank you. OK. Thank you. We head back to the main road and start looking for number 14, the other address Kamara often used in his letters. We hope someone there will know what happened to him. (INDISTINCT CONVERSATION) Is this 12? Yes, sir. 14? Yes. Over here. OK. thank you. Yes, sir. Hello. (BOTH SPEAK AFRICAN LANGUAGE) Oh. You don't know this man? No. You sure? Yeah. Did you know the people who lived there before? No. OK. Thank you very much. It's a striking reminder of the poverty and chaos that the civil war created. Of the two homes that Kamara lived in, one burned to the ground, and the other is fire damaged and is now occupied by squatters. Finding Kamara here is proving challenging. I decide we should change tack and head to the waterfront, where Abraham tells me many former seamen live. What about this chap? Do you think`? Yeah. We'll try him, eh? Yes, sir. Good afternoon. We're trying to find this man. You don't know him at all? Do you know where any seaman are? I'm a seaman before. You're a seaman? Yes. But you don't recognize him at all? I don't recognize him. Is there any seamen around here who...? There's one. Alpha Wanderer. Alpha...? Wanderer. - Wanderer. OK. - (BOTH CHUCKLE) Do you know where he is? Yeah, he's here. Down the beach? OK. Thank you very much, sir. 'As we get closer to the beach, we keep searching,...' Saidu Kamara? No. '...now also searching for the seaman who has the wonderful name Alpha Wanderer.' It's a name that gives me hope. Kamara was on a ship called The Wanderer. We definitely need to find this man. Do you know him at all? Arriving at the beach, I'm taken aback. Amidst the rubbish on these once-beautiful shores,... the locals go about their daily business ` (BOY CALLS) fishing, trading, playing sports. I'm again reminded what a starkly different world Daniel lives in in New Zealand compared to the homeland of his father. So you don't know this man, then? No, I don't know. OK. What about the other guy? Uh, Alpha Wanderer. No, I don't know him. All right. Alpha Wanderer? Wanderer. Where will you be tomorrow? Finally, a lead. I was beginning to lose hope of finding out anything amidst all this chaos, but the mysterious seaman Alpha Wanderer just might be the person to lead me to Daniel's father. Oh, hey. Come to check out the car? BOTH: Yeah. - Josh. - Jen. Hi. She's in pretty good nick. Only done 110,000 K's. WOF and rego. You know, full service history. (OMINOUS MUSIC) What is this? This is a one-star safety-rated car. Yeah. Try and get in. (HORN TOOTS) My body's, like, folded in half. I don't understand what's going on. People don't often think about how a car will crash and how it will protect you. That's what a star safety rating tells you. Just can't imagine` If we crashed in a car like this, there's no way we would survive. (OMINOUS MUSIC) JEN: I think we've seen enough. I'm in Goderich, a fishing village in Sierra Leone, on the west coast of Africa. I'm with local researcher Abraham Barry, trying to find Saidu Kamara, the father of New Zealander Daniel Barry. Today we are looking for an old seaman who has the wonderful name Alpha Wanderer, who I suspect may have taken his name from the ship Wanderer ` the same ship Daniel's father was on. I hope he's here. So we are back at Goderich Beach, where yesterday, a local fisherman said he'd make some enquiries for us. (SPEAKS KRIO) (BOTH SPEAK KRIO) Morning again, sir. Good morning. (SPEAKS KRIO) Oh, OK. OK, I know. Oh, OK. That's where he lives? Yeah, exactly. Hey, thank you. Thank you. Very good. Cheers, mate. Thank you. Alpha Wanderer, we are told, lives up an alley opposite the town's mosque. Look at the mosque here. I think it's up here. We are in another back alley. We don't even know if it's the right alley, but we walk on, hoping someone will know where the old seaman called Alpha Wanderer lives, in the hope that he'll know Daniel's father. Excuse me, yes, ma'am. Afternoon, ma'am. (BOTH SPEAK AFRICAN LANGUAGE) Oh. She knows where she is? Yeah. (INDISTINCT CONVERSATION) OK. This house? Yeah, she said this house. Thank you. Hello? Yes, ma'am. How de body, ma'am? (BOTH SPEAK KRIO) Um... OK. We're trying to find a man named Saidu Kamara. This man here. Do you know him? OK. Thank you. (PENSIVE MUSIC) Alpha Wanderer recently suffered a stroke. He is partially paralysed, but he's eager to hear who we are looking for. Hi. Hello, sir. Nice to meet you. Yes. Thank you. Right. So do you know that man? This man here. This guy? So you recognise him, but you cannot remember his name? Yes. Do you know where he is now? No. Hey, pastor! Hello. Mrs Wanderer calls over the town pastor, who is passing by. He knows many people in Goderich. (SPEAKS KRIO) Yes. So you say his name is Kebe? Kebe. Kebe. Kebe. Kebe. Because the name which we had was Saidu K. Kamara, so maybe that is Kebe. MV Wanderer. MV Wanderer. And you were on the ship The Wanderer? That is the ship he was on too. Yeah, yeah. So you recognize him now. Yeah, I recognize him. (CHUCKLES) Do you know where he is? Well,... Yeah. They say he at a bar at number 14. 14. But we've been to number 14, and no one remembered him. You don't know anyone who knows where he is now? OK. They say that he was sick, so maybe try the wife. He has a wife? Yes. Do you know how sick he was? Oh, wow. Yes, they say he was very, very sick. He can't even able to walk. Blimey. (EXHALES HEAVILY) Maybe the wife knows something. OK. Well, that's good. Thank you very much. It's an amazing breakthrough. Kamara ` or Kebe, as we now know him ` is married, and hopefully the wife will lead us to him. But Kebe's sickness has me concerned. It's another humid 35-degree day, so we take a break. Abraham and I will meet again a little later. In the meantime, I seek shade and water. (HUBBUB IN DISTANCE) Hello. Oh, hello, sir. Yeah. How are you? Hello, sir. I talked to you yesterday. Yesterday, down over there. Yeah. I was trying to find this man here. Yes. Saidu Kamara. Saidu Kamara. Yeah. You remember him now? Yeah, I remember him. A fisherman by the name of Kebe. Yeah. Do you know where he is? The one I know is died already, just over four years. He has died? Yes, yes. All right. Thank you so much. It's news I was half expecting, but it is devastating just the same. Daniel's just touched down in Sierra Leone. He's excited to be travelling to join me in the search for his father, so this is not what I want to be telling him when I see him. An hour later, I meet with Abraham. Hopefully Kebe's widow, Jestina Cole, will be happy to meet with us. Is this the lady? Yeah, I guess so. Afternoon, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. Afternoon. We ask for a woman named Jestina. (GRUNTS) Sit down. Yes, ma'am. So, your husband, what happened to him? Why did he die? OK. How long ago? May. Eight years. 2000, how much? OK. Your husband had a child when he was a seaman and went to New Zealand. Did you know about that child? (SPEAKS KRIO) Yes. Yes. She said yes. What did he tell you about him? OK. Does Kebe have any other children? OK. And where is she? Was Kebe a good man? Very nice. Good. OK. He work fine for me. He help me. Good. His son, Daniel, is in Freetown now. Would you be happy if I brought him here tomorrow, and you could tell him about his dad? Yes. I will explain. Yeah. I will explain. Thank you very much. Nice to meet you. Yes, yes. Justina was married to Kebe for about 10 years, but they had no children together. His daughter, Yealie, is from an earlier relationship. Jestina, or Tina, has not seen Yealie since Kebe's funeral in 2011. The discovery that Daniel has a sister will, if I can find her, be a bit of good news for Daniel. First, though, I need to tell him the sad news about his dad. But how do you tell someone who has just travelled for almost two days, full of hope, that the dad he has come to meet... is dead? (PENSIVE MUSIC) Daniel Ryan is in Freetown, Sierra Leone, hoping to meet his father, Saidu 'Kebe' Kamara, a seaman who had a brief relationship with Daniel's mother in Dunedin 38 years ago. Morning to you. How's it going? 'Daniel arrived late yesterday, and now he's getting his first look at his father's homeland.' It's pretty crazy. (HORNS TOOT) Yeah, unbelievable, to be honest. (CHUCKLES) So, do you still feel like that tall, out-of-place dark boy in Dunedin? (CHUCKLES) I feel like I could pretty much fit in here. That's good, because I want to take you out to your father's village today, if that's all right with you. Sounds awesome. Let's do it. All right, let's go. Let's go. (EXHALES) It's a crazy town, though, isn't it? Oh, it's unbelievable. As we head to the fishing village of Goderich, with the shanty homes and the bumpy dirt roads, I prepare myself for a difficult moment. I'm about to show Daniel his father's world, but I am also about to tell him devastating news about the dad he has never met. This is downtown Goderich. This is, basically, your dad's hometown. Yeah, it's pretty crazy. I thought Freetown was chaos, but this place is another level. When you were back in New Zealand, when you first wrote to me, you wrote that you were a bit disappointed in your dad. Why was that? Just because I'd never met him. I guess I was angry at him, but, you know, I soon learned to live with it. But now you see where he was from, I mean, life wasn't easy for him. No, absolutely not. This is crazy. CHUCKLES: This is a whole new level. It's a fascinating place, isn't it? Let's just grab a spot here away from all the traffic. Yeah. Um... Your hope coming here ` what was that? To meet my father. Well, as I said earlier, I've spent a couple days here trying to solve the mystery of what happened to your dad. Yep. Sadly, um,... we've found out what's happened to him. Yeah. He has passed away. (POIGNANT MUSIC) But the interesting thing is, um, he never forgot about you. A lot of people knew about you. And I'd like to take you in the next few hours to go and meet people who can tell you about your dad, tell you what sort of person he was back here... and what he said about you. (CLEARS THROAT) I'm sorry it's not better news. (PEOPLE CHATTER IN BACKGROUND) (SIGHS) So... puts some` I guess, a bit of closure. Yeah. There is possibly a bit of good news. Yeah. You actually have a sister here in Sierra Leone. (HOPEFUL MUSIC) But at the moment, we can't find her. Yeah. (CHUCKLES) But, anyway, we can have a wander around here, and I can take you just up the road and show you the house where your father used to live. Sadly, it's burnt down, but... come this way. OK. Excellent. (CHATTER CONTINUES, CAR ENGINES RUMBLE) That was his home. That was number 14, Goderich. Oh, OK. (CHATTER CONTINUES) (CAR ENGINE RUMBLES) So here we are. I've arranged for Daniel to meet the people who remember his father. Sitting in the shade, which will be nice. (EXHALES) Hello! Hello. This is Kebe's son, Daniel. This is Mr Alpha Wanderer,.. Mrs Wanderer,... Hello. Nice to meet you. (CHUCKLES) ...and the pastor. Hello. How are you? Welcome. You're back home. Thank you. So did you know my father? (BOTH SPEAK KRIO) Yeah, yeah. He's been talking with him. Yeah. He used to work in the engine room, whereas your father was a sailor. He used to paint. Yeah. Do you also know my father too? OK. Yes. And, um, did he ever talk about me? (SPEAKS KRIO) (SPEAKS KRIO) Mm. Yes. He said he actually told him he has a child in Western world, and the mother used to communicate with him, and sometimes they even send him some remittances. But he actually was expecting to see the child, yes. Yeah. No, it's hard. Um... I have a couple of photos and some letters from him. These are the picture that we get. Remember this man? Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's the guy. That's Kebe. Yeah, see that. To hear that his father did not deliberately lose contact and always hoped they would meet is a bittersweet moment for Daniel. (CHILD CALLS OUT IN DISTANCE) But he is relishing the opportunity to learn more about the man he never knew. Next, we head to the home of Tina, Kebe's widow. Hello again. Yes. This is Daniel, Kebe's son. This is Tina,... OK. ...your father's second wife. Oh, really? Hello. Nice to meet you. And grab a seat there. So were you married to Kebe? Yes. OK. Did he talk about me? (CHUCKLING) (POIGNANT MUSIC) So I came, but... I maybe came too late. Do you know what happened to him? (SNIFFLES) Do you have any photographs of him? Yes, I'll get some. Sounds like he never forgot you, did he? No, sounds like he talked about me a lot and was hopeful that one day I would come over to find him. Yeah. (INHALES SHARPLY) Yep. (GENTLE GUITAR MUSIC) It's been a big morning for Daniel. By early afternoon, he is ready to crash. He returns to the hotel while Abraham and I head to Crewtown, one of the poorer parts of Freetown. This is Crewtown Road. We go to the area's central market. If Yealie still sells vegetables here, surely someone will know her. Afternoon, sir. (SPEAKS AFRICAN LANGUAGE) (MAN SPEAKS AFRICAN LANGUAGE) It's mid-afternoon, so not the busiest time, but it is still hectic. Fish and vegetables are plentiful. Yealie? But it seems no one knows a Yealie who has a stall here. Eventually, we run out of people to ask. (SIGHS) She's not here. No. It's crazy. Time is ticking. Daniel's only here for three more days. He has a sister in this chaotic city, but how, among a million people, are we going to find her? It's a new day in Freetown in Sierra Leone. Kiwi Daniel Ryan is here to find his father, Kebe Kamara, but he died eight years ago. Now I am trying to find Daniel's half-sister Yealie, who was last heard of running a vegetable stall in the suburb of Crewtown. Yesterday, we could not find her, but this morning, my researcher, Abraham Barry, has a new plan. I think I have another idea. He tells me there is another area in Crewtown where there is just a small market. We hail a keke ` the cheap and popular local mini taxi ` and head across town. (HORN TOOTS) (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC) Right. So, where is it? Down this corner. (INDISTINCT CONVERSATION) Yes, ma'am. Afternoon. I ask for a woman, Yealie. No? Hello. I ask for a woman, Yealie, with a vegetable business. She's there, Yealie, next stall. Just there? Yes, sir. (CHUCKLES) Thank you very much. Hello. Afternoon. Yeah. I ask for a woman, Yealie. Hello. My name is David. I come from New Zealand. Yes, sir. Can I just check, is this man here, Is that your father? Yes, sir. My father. Yes, sir. Your father, he had a son in New Zealand. Did you know about that? Yes, sir. Gave me the son's picture. He gave you a picture? Yes. But the picture... It burned in the house? Yes, in the house. 'Yealie is 43. 'Her mother and father separated two years before Daniel was born.' Your brother, whose name is Daniel, he... Daniel. ...he was trying to find your father, but I now know that he has passed away. Yeah. Daniel is here in Freetown now. Would you be happy to meet him? Yes, sir. OK, thank you very much. Thank you too, sir. Nice to meet you. God bless. Yes, sir. Back on the other side of Freetown, near our hotel, I meet up with Daniel, who has just risen from a long sleep, shaking off his jet lag. (CHUCKLES) Morning to you. Hey, morning, David. How are you? How are you feeling today? Yeah, feeling heaps better, actually. Well, yesterday was a sort of bad-news day, wasn't it? Yeah, no, it was pretty sad, but, you know, I had to kind of expect that, you know? So... But, yeah, hopefully today's a better day. Well, I have some good news for you today. Oh, really? (CHUCKLES) (CHUCKLES) We found your sister here. Oh, wow. Yep. (CHUCKLES) And, um... It's unbelievable. (CHUCKLES) And she actually knew all about you. Oh, really? I didn't expect that. (CHUCKLES) (INHALES SHARPLY) Yep. She's very excited to hear that you're here and looking for her. CHUCKLES: Oh, really? Yep. Well, that's awesome. She runs a little fruit stall just downtown here. Yep. OK. So would you be happy to go and meet her? I'd like to take you right now, if you're ready. Oh, really? (CHUCKLES) OK. Um, yeah, I guess so. Let's do it. (CHUCKLES) (MOMENTOUS MUSIC) For the first time in his 38 years, Daniel is to meet someone from his Sierra Leone family ` his sister, who he never knew existed. Yealie too is just as excited. (CHUCKLES) How do you feel? Good. I'm glad so much for see him. I will hug him gladly. I will cry too. Starting to feel a bit real? Yeah. This is the street your sister lives on. Oh, really? How are you feeling? Um, pretty nervous. Yeah, it's all a bit unreal at the moment. I said no more surprises. There is one little surprise. Oh, really? (CHUCKLES) You've got an uncle here. Oh, OK. He was your father's cousin, and he actually worked on the Wanderer with your dad. Oh, really? He was the bosun on there. (CHUCKLES) So, he's here as well. So,... That's amazing. ...I'm gonna get you to walk up there. Can you see the lady with the red pants and the yellow top? Yep. That's your sister. Oh, really? Yeah. She's quite excited. I think she's going to bear-hug you. (CHUCKLES) So... All right. This is pretty unreal. I'm gonna leave you here. OK. Good luck. Thanks, David. Appreciate it. Enjoy the moment, eh? OK. (POIGNANT MUSIC) (PEOPLE CHATTER) (HORN TOOTS IN DISTANCE, CHILDREN LAUGH) Hello. (SOBS) (CRIES) Happy for see you. (CRIES) (CRYING CONTINUES) (SOBS) Brother, come. Hello. How are you? Good. God bless you. God bless you. Same height. It's unbelievable. Yeah. I found out I have a sister, and I met her, and... Oh, really? 'I'm an uncle.' (CHUCKLES) The meeting has been emotional for Daniel. Tall. Yeah, same family. Oh, my brother. Oh, OK? Really? Yeah. Me and you. While he never got to meet his dad, he has found his Sierra Leone family. There is still, however, one thing Daniel is keen to do. (GENTLE MUSIC) I was hoping to meet my father. I guess I was prepared for anything, but finding out my father was dead, it was hard to hear that. Brother, sister and family head to Kebe's grave to say some prayers to the dad that Daniel will now never know. It's nice to know he's resting in peace. (FAMILY PRAYS) May God bless you all. So, potatoes? Potatoes. How much? 20. The next day, Daniel is with Yealie at her vegetable stall. These, 4,000. She's amazing. A hard worker. Gets up at 5 in the morning, you know, and works all day every day. He and Yealie spent two days together. They now keep in touch by email. Daniel hopes one day to return to Sierra Leone with his children to show them their heritage and to meet Aunt Yealie. Yeah, she's a beautiful person. What do you call this? Tomatoes. Tomatoes. I'm really happy. I'm glad I've done this. You know, I was dreaming about this three months ago, (CHUCKLES) and I'm here. It's sad too, but I'm really happy I've done it. (TENSE MUSIC) He didn't wanna return home cos he didn't wanna bring shame. Malia's brother left 30 years ago,... He left to become a priest in Rome. ...but after three years in Italy, he disappeared. What sort of man do you think he will be? Is Filippo hiding out in a mafia town? He's very nervous. He's very uncomfortable. (SOBS) Captions by Kristin Williams. Edited by Maeve Kelly. Captions were made with the support of NZ On Air. www.able.co.nz Copyright Able 2020 Supporting local content so you can see more of NZ On Air.