I have spent more than half of my summers in the Mediterranean, and it is difficult for me to find a story outside the sea. A large part of them have been spent on the coast, protecting various generations and nationalities of bathers, and the last decade I have spent sailing, to prevent thousands of people from drowning senselessly. But of all these, one comes to mind: that of Josepha and her song.
It all started in July 2018, when a prestigious NBA elite athlete, Marc Gasol, suggested accompanying us on a mission aboard the Astral, the flagship that is almost my age. Before boarding, ESPN interviewed us in a hotel in Malta. They asked me what I expected from this mission and I replied: “I don’t know, like in all missions: if you save just one life, that’s enough. It will have been worth the effort.”
While sailing, we heard a radio transmission from the so-called “Libyan coast guard” (militias financed by the EU through Italy) to the merchant ship Triadstelling its captain to set course for a boat that had been adrift for days with more than 150 people on board, including many women and children.
Although they were 10 hours away, we decided to head towards that position with the Astral and the Open Arms (where my daughter Esther was), accompanied also by a well-known Italian MP. We knew that if they were intercepted by the Libyan patrol boat, these people would be returned to a country at war, a failed state, and in order to document and try to avoid a pushback, we stayed on course.
A few hours later, the captain of the merchant ship announced that he could not wait any longer, leaving the people to their fate. We continued towards the indicated position, but when we arrived, we found only the shattered remains of what had once been the ship.
From the Open Armswhich was some distance away, apparently lifeless bodies were seen floating among the remains. Even so, from the Astral we lowered our dinghy.
As we approached, we noticed that one of the bodies had moved. We accelerated our march and, upon arriving, we found a heartbreaking scene: the lifeless body of a child of approximately 10 years old, who had died a few hours before, and near him, a woman, apparently his mother. I still wonder why they abandoned them there, condemning them to certain death. I will never understand it. Why would you leave a child and his mother in the middle of the sea?
There was only one survivor: Josepha.
She was holding on precariously to a piece of wood. Exhausted, almost out of breath, Josepha whispered a song: “Mother, you are my mother, you are the star of the sea and there is only you and me. Make a miracle, come to me and find me.”
Josepha had been adrift for days and had lost count, but that day happened to be the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, patron saint of sailors. As a sailor, I was surprised and moved by such a coincidence.
To ensure Josepha’s safety, we contacted the Spanish justice system and disembarked her in the nearest Spanish port, Palma de Mallorca, under the security and protection of the Spanish Red Cross. The actions of these militias clearly revealed the structural necropolitics in the Mediterranean. As soon as we reported the events, we faced countless criticisms and fake news by the Italian administration, led by Matteo Salvini, who demanded that we disembark it in Italy.
We deployed a huge rescue operation to save just one life, that of the unbreakable Josepha. She left Cameroon, where she worked as a teacher. Fleeing domestic violence, she decided to go to Europe to join her brother.
This summer Josepha got married. She invited us to her wedding, in a central European capital, as part of her family.
And he sang.
Every life counts.
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