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Grandma and the great gold rush of Suriname

Hennah Draaibaar looks for the truth behind her grandma's stories of gold. What she finds is a life marked by hardship and loss, but was once the most celebrated in Suriname.

Hennah Draaibaar sets out to investigate a family legend she'd heard whispers of as a girl, that of her grandmother making a huge gold discovery in the 1930s which briefly made her the richest woman in Suriname. Could it be that a family just a few decades out from under the yoke of slavery had found unimaginable riches buried beneath their feet? Hennah's digging uncovers the murky history of the gold鈥檚 path down the years and reveals a portrait of the Golden Lady of Suriname that was even more precious.

High in the mountains ranges of Western Mongolia, the nomadic Kazakh people carry on a spectacular tradition: they train and hunt with the majestic golden eagle. Among them is a girl called Aisholpan Nurgaiv who was the subject of the 2016 film The Eagle Huntress. Its director, Otto Bell, told Outlook about the photos that first inspired him. This interview was first broadcast in 2016.

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com

Presenter: Andrea Kennedy

(Photo: (Front) Collage of Hennah Draaibaar's family (Background) The city of Albina in 1970s. Credit: (Front) Courtesy of Hennah Draaibaar (Background) Seidel/United Archives/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

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41 minutes

Last on

Wed 1 Feb 2023 03:06GMT

Broadcasts

  • Tue 31 Jan 2023 12:06GMT
  • Tue 31 Jan 2023 18:06GMT
  • Tue 31 Jan 2023 23:06GMT
  • Wed 1 Feb 2023 00:06GMT
  • Wed 1 Feb 2023 03:06GMT

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Podcast: Lives Less Ordinary

Podcast: Lives Less Ordinary

Step into someone else鈥檚 life and expect the unexpected