Meet Moussa
Moussa on the piazza of the Milan Duomo. Milan, Italy. 9 June 2018. ©Pamela Kerpius/Migrants of the Mediterranean
by
Pamela Kerpius
Recorded:
9 June 2018
Published:
June 2018
Meet Moussa.
24 years old and from Gao, Mali.
To reach Italy he crossed three countries: Mali, Niger, and the most dangerous of all, Libya.
In total his journey took about one year.
He crossed his native Mali until he reached the capital city of Niger, Naimey, then continued onward to Agadez. There were just a few people with him to start, but when he stopped in Agadez the crowd of migrants grew to more than 100 people. He remained there for a week while waiting to depart for the desert.
Moussa crossed the Sahara desert in the back of a pickup truck with 23 people. They traveled for 12 hours every day for five days until arriving in Libya. One of his first stops in the country was Sabha, but he did not stay, only passed through on his way further north.
He arrived in Tripoli where he remained for months before leaving for the coastal camp nearby.
At 5:00 on the morning of 6 July 2014, Moussa crossed the Mediterranean Sea in a rubber dinghy with 104 people, all men, including his friend Boubs (Senegal). They were rescued by an Italian ship before being transferred to a second one that ported, finally, in Pozzallo, Sicily on 9 July 2014. Moussa and Boubs remain together at their state housing in Milan, Italy to this day.
Moussa is an amazing human being.