Ship’s log (III): The expatriate women of the Astral

Caterina Ciufegni he does not forget the stories of the people he has met in the rescues. Of that African boy who saw die tortured his friend in a Libyan detention center. Of the Cameroonian woman who was raped while waiting to embark on a boat. Of the Syrians O afghans who survived the fire in the Greek refugee camp of Moira. “When the ship manages to disembark, the people explode with happiness, we embrace and celebrate it, but I think of everything that lies ahead, that it will not be easy, that their path has only just begun … And that’s perhaps the hardest part of this job, & rdquor ;, says the 37-year-old Italian doctor who has lived in Berlin for almost a decade.

Like many of the crew of the Astral from Open Arms, docked since Monday in Maó due to a mechanical breakdown that forced him to change course when he was heading to the Central Mediterranean to carry out maritime rescue work, Caterina has lived part of her life as immigrant far from his land tuscany. Or at least like expatriate. As much as you are aware of the privileges that your european passport and the color of his skin. She went to Berlin to finish the MIR without speaking a word of German. He learned the language and found work in a hospital. But she ended up burned for days of more than 12 hours that did not leave her enough time to learn.

By then Mateo Salvini He was the Minister of the Interior of Italy, the man who shielded its borders, closed ports and declared war on irregular migration. “As an Italian I felt very responsible for what was happening in the Mediterranean. I was not an activist or involved in politics, but it was my way of committing myself & rdquor ;, says Caterina now, one of the three volunteer women of the Astral, whose crew is completed by seven other men. He left his job behind in 2019 and embarked on five missions with the German NGO Sea Eye and the french SOS Mediterranée, which, like Open Arms, is dedicated to rescuing people in international waters of the Mediterranean. In the breaks he was going to Lesbos O Thessalonica to serve the refugees on land.

“It has opened my eyes”

“My life has changed a lot. I have left my garden and my comfort zone and it has opened my eyes. And along the way, I have rediscovered my vital purpose& rdquor ;, says in the dining room of the Astral, where the hours of rest in the port begin to weigh. Andrea Merino has gone the other way. He returned to Barcelona just before the pandemic after two decades living in Paris and London, where he worked in the tourism sector. Always a lover of the sea, she learned its rudiments used in the Balearia ferries and pleasure yachts, an experience that has served her to embark for the first time as sailor in the Astral.

Like the bulk of the crew, it does not come from the world of activism. “Immigration is a complex issue, but Open Arms does a necessary job and I feel fortunate to be able to get involved in what I believe,” she says as mechanics crane out the boat gearbox to fix it in the workshop. Her experience as an expat has helped her empathize with the other. “In the UK I did feel a different treatment for being a foreigner, but in the end I always found someone willing to help me. That experience teaches you to understand, that beyond our circumstances, we are all the same”.

“From your home it is very easy to judge”

Since returning home, Andrea has worked for a foundation that helps the terminally ill and chronically ill. “To people who criticize immigrants, I would tell them to embark or go to a border to put themselves in the shoes of the other. From your home it is very easy to judge. But the truth is that there is a problem and you need solutions& rdquor ;. The most imminent for the Astral are the drifting boats and canoes that, if they cross their path, will have to rescue lifeguards such as Ana Squarza, a 39-year-old Uruguayan.

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Fervent admirer of Pepe Mujica, who happens to be one of the living consciences in the world, arrived in Barcelona with his partner in 2019 wanting to know the multicultural wealth that is scarce in Montevideo. She worked as a cook and lifeguard, a job that made her connect with the Open Arms environment, an NGO originally born as a ‘lifeguard’ company, as Uruguayans call first aid. “Every human being has the right to seek a better life, to have other experiences and live in places other than where he was born,” says Ana after spending part of the morning exercising in the port. “It can’t be that only people with money can cross borders freely. That has to stop & rdquor ;.