Lampedusa

The port in Lampedusa.  The coast guard boats are on the left side, the port where the refugees land is just behind.

This island has a completely different feel than anywhere else.  The refugees are delighted, thrilled, happy, relieved, amazed that they are on land and in one piece.  They will talk to you, want you to email the picture to them, tell you their names and where they are from.  They smile.  

I can only imagine their thoughts.  They are looking at the dock where they landed just a few days ago.  It must be a relief to know they made it.

One of these boys gave me his email because he wanted a copy of the photo.  So I tried to send it to kebba.sallah@yahoo.com, but it didn't go through.  So one day maybe I can tell him I tried!

As you see, not shy, not afraid, ready to talk, ready to make a friend.  It was so different as I said from anything else we experienced that we spent Sunday walking the streets and saying 'hi' and shaking hands with literally everybody.

These guys came from Sierra Leone.  They had heard of the 'Latter-Day Saints'.....Dad gave them our business card.  We told them wherever they land, they can probably find the church.  

The guy in the previous photo with both thumbs up was telling us about his story.  He had bodily proof of his sufferings.  On his stomach....on his ear....

I know, just another photo.  But these guys have been in Europe literally for a couple of days.

Med Hope took us to the local cemetery.  They have been able to discover the names and dates of some of the victims that have drowned at sea and they have buried them here.  They also have a plaque for the unidentified who have died at sea.

After dinner one night, as we exited the restaurant, here they all were, bundled up watching a soccer game.  As we all know, it's the universal language.  Every country in Africa and Europe speak that language.

The docks where the refugees disembark.   Notice there are several pavilions.  Upon landing they are separated into groups that are healthy and those that are not.  Among other separations of which I was unclear about.  This dock has welcomed from April 2103 to April 2017 about 74,000 refugees!

This is the Hotspot.  From the dock they are driven by buses to this location.  We couldn't go inside, but there was a road that we walked down that you could easily see into the compound.  The building on the left is burned out and no longer usable.  It was burned by Tunisians, who burned it after finding out that they would be repatriated back to Tunisia.  The countries that are considered safe such as Tunisia, the refugees are immediately sent back.  

The boys were walking into town from the hotspot.  They had been here 'since Thursday' they said.  'Are you treated well there?  Do you have showers and toilets and a bed?'  "Yes, we are treated well!"  

This girl was from Reggio Emilia, not far from Bologna.  She is a teacher for the refugees and teaches them Italian as well as Italian Culture.  She said they like to say 'hi' to everybody and when others don't say 'hi' back they wonder if it's b/c they are black.  No, it's just not our culture.  They also will say 'hi old man' out of respect for age but she has to tell them that people in Europe don't like that kind of salutation.  Also the difference between a bidet and a toilet.  Stuff like that.

A grassroots organization.  They have rented this space to display some of the 'stuff' recovered from the refugee boats.  They were having a meeting about issues that they felt were important to the island.

The outside of their building was made from the wood taken from refugee boats.  

These are the Italian Coast Guard boats.  Notice they are rimmed with rubber padding so that they can bump up against any boat and not damage the boat but be able to pull people onto their boat.  They can handle about 100 people, so sometimes they are all out at the same time, and sometimes each makes several trips.

One is a pastor in Lampedusa where the refugees are literally minutes off of the boat.  They come to him for clothes and shoes.  He has a shower and a toilette for their use.  The commitment to the refugees on that island is heartwarming.  Literally the whole island (20 km in circumference and 1.5 wide!) has banded together to make their first landing a warm and welcome landing.  The refugees we have previously met have been 'hands off, don't talk to me...' they are scared!  The ones on Lampedusa are so relieved to be off of the water and out of Libya that they smile and talk to you and trust you and let you take pictures of them and want your email address!  Some from Sierra Leone knew the 'Latter Day Saints'....wanted to know if there was a church on the island?  Anyway, it's sad to know that their journey is still long and hard and there will still be suffering to experience, but for the first days on that island they literally feel the safety and hospitality of Europe.  

I know.  It would be nice to hand out Books of Mormon as well, but I doubt the priest and nuns would appreciate that.

The storage area where they have clothes, soap, and other items for the refugees.  I think one of the refugees doesn't 100% trust me.  What do you think?  Paula was our translator and I really connected with her.  I could easily be friends with her.  

Isn't she beautiful?

The line-up outside the storage area of the church.  There is a huge demand.  The shoes they are issued sometimes need to be upgraded.

These boys all came together in the same boat.  They came from Senegal and Gambia.  One of the guys wanted a copy of this photo.  He told me to look him up on face book:  pape ndione.  Couple of people by that name and I doubt I find the right one.

The Door of Europe.  It's an open door.

We took a hike around and the beach really is beautiful

All work and no play?  We had to get around and instead of renting a car we got a vespa.  Smart!

Went out for dinner with the Med Hope crew.  They ordered.  All raw fish. It was great and tasty but a little too much raw fish for me.

Refugee ship graveyard.  The used to use fishing boats to ship off the refugees, now the smugglers just use rubber boats because they are much cheaper and they know that the rescue ships will get them earlier so why waste gas or a boat when it's not needed?  It's a political dilemma of huge proportions.


I did post the meeting we held in Lampedusa with the community at the church.  Before this 'conversation' took place, the Pastor shared with us a letter he was giving to the Pope (today!) and it was saying that they need to grant Asylum to the refugees in their own country so they don't have to make the perilous voyage here!  We got a copy of the letter....a day before Pope Francis!