SWALLOWED BY A WHALE
Stories from my Journal
I recall it was a cold dawn in Addis Ababa, and I was still in my room at the Dreamliner Hotel, scrolling through my phone. I stayed over for a few days after the Africa Union Summit to sort out a few personal issues and was due to fly back home that morning. I was all packed and ready, waiting for the driver to take me to the airport.
A news alert caught my attention. Another migrant boat had capsized in the Mediterranean, and footage of a capsized barge filled the TV screen. Rescue workers could be seen battling the stormy weather, desperately trying to save lives as floating bodies and belongings drifted by.
As I sat there, surprised, I couldn't help but think of the irony in the timing of the incident. The need to curb the dangerous Mediterranean migrant crossing had surfaced during discussions at the Eighteenth Ordinary Session of the African Union. Among the reasons put forward for support for declarations such as Boosting Intra-African Trade, the Global African Diaspora Summit, and African Integration, was the need to revitalize national economies to provide employment and opportunities for African youth. I wondered if these ambitious plans would be put into action to address this crisis.
I found myself over the next six years in five of the countries where the majority of the drowned migrants came from. And I made it a personal mission to visit homes and talk to family and friends to get the stories behind their desperate attempt to escape a continent so blessed and yet so cursed.
This is my tribute to the migrants who on the night of February 19th, 2012 were swallowed by the insatiable whale that lurked in the Mediterranean.
For 11 years, from 2005 to 2016, I worked with the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), a flagship program of the African Union. The APRM was primarily established to improve governance in member states as a means to improve the economic prosperity and general well-being of African citizens. During that period I traveled this beautiful continent and met the most wonderful people. I also came away with stories - stories of hope, ambition, despair, desperation, and unbelievable faith which sometimes bordered on insanity. And that is what this blog is for - to share these stories!