3. “The fourth time is the lucky one.”

In Puerto Rico there is a saying: “A la tercera va la vencida”, (the third time is the lucky one),”a simple expression of a people that teaches the new generations not to quit when beaten, don’t lose faith from the hard knocks that life gives, rather get up and persevere. This saying that I heard so many times from my grandparents has acquired a new meaning when I came to learn what thousands of refugees live.

After our Eritrean brothers had rested, they had lunch with us. I sat next to one of them who spoke English and asked him about what he had confronted during his voyage. He told me that it was the fourth time he had attempted to cross to Italy. The first time he paid  $1000.00, the second time the same, the third $600 and the last one $1600.00.  

Leaving Eritrea, he had to face a large voyage across the desert in order to arrive in Libya. Once he arrived there he had to work and save for months to be able to pay for the voyage. After each attempt he had to  work to save the required amount. The first time the Libyan police trapped them as they were about to  embark and put them in jail. His relatives had to pay so he could get out of the jail. The second  time they managed to leave, but they ran into bad weather and the captain became frightened and confessed that he did not know how to pilot the ship. And they had to turn back.

Upon the failures of these first two attempts, he became worried, and in order not to wait too much time,  he paid for a cheaper shipping vessel. During the voyage the motor of the boat gave out. They were fifteen hours away from international waters and decided to return to shore in order to save their lives. This time he decided to wait, and save enough money to be able to pay for a more secure passage to increase the chances of completing  the voyage. In this fourth crossing they managed to arrive into international waters and were rescued by the Italian government through a program called “Mare Nostrum.”

 And like this group of Eritreans, there are thousands that are arriving into Italy by making these dangerous  voyages.  According to the data given by “Save the Children,” from the first of January to the 17th of June of  2014, 58,000 refugees had arrived and, of these, more than 5,300 were women, more than 9,000 were minor children. Many of these children and adolescents were sent alone because their parents didn’t have the means to pay passage for the rest of the family.

October 3, 2014, 367 refugees perished on  this  dangerous crossing.  Many of them were from Eritrea, among them many small children and women. This video shows footage of what occurred and explains why they are leaving their country.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5Viyti1tPQ

Pope Francisco spoke immediately after the event and also decided to go to Lampedusa in order to pray for the dead and asked everyone not to remain indifferent before such a calamity.

2. “I am not a number, I am a human being”

It was 4 am in the morning, the flashing lights and siren of the police car cut through the night’s darkness. It was followed by a large bus, the doors opened and, one by one, the faces of several young boys, an adult and a young girl appeared. The ten of them were from Eritrea. Their faces showed tiredness, and suspicion. 

The uniformed policemen created an atmosphere of tension.  The cultural mediator that accompanied them on the bus introduced them (they had already taken another 20 refugees in two other refugee centers) and speaking to them in Arabic he explained that they would be staying with us and he would be in contact them.

 
Once the police were gone, they began to relax somewhat, they looked in the mirror almost as if they

 were coming to the realization that they were alive, they splashed cool water on their faces, after days of only being able to use seawater. They took deep breaths as if they were just comprehending the terrific dangers they had survived during these past weeks.

One of them looked at his wrist and seeing the identification bracelet, ripped it off and threw it away. A simple gesture, but of great significance, and in the same way two others did the same. This young man who fled Eritrea in order to escape from a authoritarian government, and had risked his life for liberty, was breaking his chains.

Some hours later, I came back to pick up that bracelet, which had the number: 4123 written on it. The other two bracelets had broken right at the number. I remembered Psalm 8 that talks of the miracles of God’s creation and speaking of man says: “You have crowned him with glory and honor.” The actions of those young men has remained etched on my heart, it was is if they has said the same thing: “I am not a number, I am a human being.”

Help us, Lord, to recognized the dignity that you have given to each human being. Give us the strength  so that, together, we can break asunder all types of chains that wish to strip us of that dignity.

• To know a little more about the reality of Eritrea

To pray with Psalm 8 offering it for all the people that find themselves left in conditions without dignity. 

What do you think about this experience? Share your comments.

(The original was published in spanish 1st of july 2014)