Imagine this: you’re walking past a pond and you see a child drowning. What would you do? Max believes he would jump into the water without hesitation to save the child. But what if a child in mortal danger is on the other side of the world, far away from you? Why do we usually do nothing then?

In The child in the pond, journalist and podcast maker Max Boogaard (26) travels on behalf of Liliane Fonds to Sierra Leone - one of the poorest countries of the world. There, he follows a remarkable team of local aid workers who tirelessly dedicate themselves to children with disabilities. Children who are often neglected, hidden away, or even killed.

During his journey, Max grapples with an age-old philosophical question: how far does our duty to help others extend? Inspired by philosopher Peter Singer’s famous metaphor — the child in the pond — the series confronts us with moral dilemmas we would often rather avoid. But the podcast also shows what happens when we do choose to jump into the water.

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In The Child in the Pond, journalist and philosopher Max Boogaard travels to Sierra Leone on behalf of the Liliane Foundation. Together with a team of local aid workers, he visits children with disabilities who are hidden from the outside world. Communities often believe these children are possessed.

In this episode, Max visits Annabel and her mother Ramatu. They live in a damp, unfinished house in Freetown. The family does not want Annabel to stay alive.

During his journey, Max also explores the famous thought experiment by ethicist and activist Peter Singer. Why would you immediately jump into a pond to save a drowning child, even if it ruins your expensive clothes? Yet for the same amount of money those clothes cost, you could help save a child far away who is in need. Why does that feel different? And why do so many people choose not to act?

Visit www.lilianefonds.org/podcast to see what you can do for children like Annabel and to watch footage from the series.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Max is traveling with Samuel and Koroma to the village of Alhaji, a ten-year-old boy. His father has died and his mother has left him. Only his grandmother still takes care of him. But she is old and fragile. She says, quite literally: “If I die, Alhaji dies.”

Is there no one who can care for him? And what can Samuel’s organization do for children like Alhaji?

Step by step, Max unravels the complex situation in which Alhaji finds himself. He discovers how deeply rooted stigma and traditional healing practices are within the culture. He also has profound conversations with Samuel about white saviorism and the colonial structures that can still shape development aid today.

Visit www.lilianefonds.org/podcast to see what you can do for children like Alhaji and to watch footage from the series.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.