Real fathers on what being present looks like, told the way they’d tell a friend.
Loading
Tell us about a moment that changed you as a dad. We’ll talk with you before anything is published.
“I was building a better life for her, but I was not in it. She did not need a bigger shop. She needed me at the gate.”
Emeka, Enugu, Nigeria
“My children are American and they are Igbo. I do not want them to choose. I want them to carry both, and dinner is where we practice.”
Chidi, Houston, United States
“My father loved us, but I knew him through the money he sent home. I wanted my boys to know me through the time we spend.”
Sipho, Johannesburg, South Africa
“I saw my son flinch, the way I used to flinch. That was the day I decided the shouting would end with me.”
A father, Kampala, Uganda
“Every night at nine, my phone alarm goes off. It is eight in Nairobi, my children’s bedtime, and I have not missed it in two years.”
Juma, Nairobi, Kenya
“The first time I tried, it looked like a bird had slept in it. She wore it to school anyway, and she told everyone her daddy did it.”
Tunde, Lagos, Nigeria
