Teenage dreams on the Indian Ocean

Ramla Ali's family fled Somalia and settled in the UK; she then went from overweight bullied child to champion boxer and model who later brought the sport back to her homeland.Ramla Ali was a baby when her older brother was killed by a stray grenade in the garden of her family ho ...  Show more

Cassandra Madison and Julia Tinetti met working at the same bar in their 20s and were struck by how similar they looked. Their adoption records didn't match, but a surprise gift later revealed the extraordinary truth. From the moment they started chatting, Cassandra and Julia qui ...  Show more

As one of the only Indian girls in her tiny Canadian mountain town, Natasha Singh stood out — and she was unafraid of being different. At 13, she shaved her head. By 17, she had run away for good. A few years later she came out to her mother.

Natasha’s worldview was worl ...

Oritsé Williams became a young carer aged 12, when his mother contracted multiple sclerosis and he had to take responsibility for looking after her and two younger siblings. During his teenage years, he had a dream: to become a singer and make plenty of money so that he could fun ...  Show more

Pip Hare is currently sailing solo round the world in the Vendee Globe race, one of only a handful of women to attempt it. She speaks to the BBC’s Zoe Kleinman from the middle of the Indian Ocean, while preparing for a storm. We’ll hear about coping with isolation, the challenges ...  Show more

All Sonali Sharma wanted was to go to school in Canada and become a nurse. It was everybody’s dream for her. So much so, that when she was accepted to a private college in Vancouver, Sonali’s entire village turned out to celebrate. Her dad took out a loan against their small farm ...  Show more