Europe begins in Lampedusa
I just want to tell you, you have beautiful hair
On 29 September, a group of three students attending Sir M. A. Refalo Sixth Form, Gozo, Malta, (Corrine Zahra, Jolene Damitz Samhan and Jessica Cassar) accompanied by Sociology teacher (Mariella Debono) left for Lampedusa.
The driving force was the project Europe begins in Lampedusa organised by the Comitato 3 Ottobre and the Ministero dell’Istruzione, Universita e Ricerca in Italy in collaboration with the European Union and the Ministero dell’Interno, Italy.
The Gozo Sixth Form was chosen to represent Malta with Corrine Zahra’s essay on migration. Zahra’s participating essay on migration will be part of a permanent exhibition at the Youth Section of the Museum of Trust and Dialogue in Lampedusa together with the other participants’ work.
The Europe begins in Lampedusa project is in its second year and is organised to commemorate the 3 October 2013 tragedy in which over 300 migrants lost their life before reaching the shore of Lampedusa.
Thirty-one Italian schools and four European schools (Austria, France, Spain and Malta) participated in the project. This was a unique experience for all those present, students and teachers alike. The opportunity to interact with people from different parts of Europe sharing ideas and opinions in various languages is a rich educational experience in itself. However, the project went further than that. It aimed to take participants closer to the reality of migration. Workshops on migration were carried out by international organisations. The Maltese students took part in a workshop on Migrants Rights by Amnesty International and a workshop on Human Trafficking by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
The activities culminated in a students’ march on 3 October from Piazza Castello in Lampedusa to the Door of Europe. The President of the Italian Senate, Pietro Grasso, the Minister of Education, Valeria Fedeli, the UNHCR representative, Stephane Jaquemet, the mayor of Lampedusa, Salvatore Martello, Father Mussie Zerai and the Archbishop of Agrigento, Card. Francesco Montenegro accompanied the march.
Following the march, all participants were taken out at sea on board fishermen’s boats, accompa- nied by the Italian coastguards. Flowers were laid at the point where the tragedy occurred as a sign of remembrance, respect and prayer. It was an emotional and unforgettable moment for all.
The students could further empathise with the reality of migration when they met the survivors of the 3 October tragedy at the L. Pirandello School. Both students and survivors had the opportunity to ask each other questions and learn about each other’s experiences. Equality and respect for all human beings were called for and emphasised in an ambience of cultural diversity.
On our way back to Malta, Jolene, one of the students I was accompanying, passed this comment, “Miss [she told me], one of the survivors had very beautiful hair. I wish we are still there in front of them so I can tell her, ‘I have no questions to ask, I just want to tell you, you have beautiful hair’”. It is this level of humanity that projects like Europe begins in Lampedusa can promote to “protect people, not borders”.