Meet Michael
©Pamela Kerpius/Migrants of the Mediterranean
by
Pamela Kerpius
Recorded:
April 2017
Published:
2017
Meet Michael.
24 years old and from Nigeria.
Michael did not want his photo taken.
To reach Lampedusa he crossed three countries: Nigeria, Niger, and the most dangerous of all, Libya.
We sat down together with his friends Presley and Desmond, both 24 and from Nigeria. Presley spoke first, and Desmond interjected occasionally. All three left Sabratha, Libya together.
Michael crossed the Mediterranean Sea on a rubber dinghy at 7:00pm on a Friday. He was rescued by the Guardia Costiera and brought to Lampedusa in the middle of the night, 16 April 2017, Easter Sunday.
When it was Michael’s turn to tell his story, he became too emotional after hearing the others to speak.
He was “cold inside,” he said, pointing to his heart. “I can’t talk.”
Michael is an amazing human being.