Lampedusa, this island of profound grace,Holds more than words can ever embrace,Forever in our hearts, its memory will reside.

A farewell selfie with a multimillion euro smiles😃

In a place called Lampedusa, where souls unite,

Voices, faces, and stories, shining lights,

Summoned by compassion, justice, and human right,

We stand together, courageous in our fight.

Alessandro, a beacon of light,

An ambassador, guiding us right.

With umbrella of commitment, he led,

With reverence and respect, respect in this noble space, we tread.

Matteo, youth’s energy ablaze,

Curiosity burning, truth’s maze.

Seeking inclusivity’s embrace,

To give a better life, he’d chase.

Mohammed, from Sahel’s land oppressed,

Fighting ceaselessly, he’s not one to rest.

In occupied lands, his people’s plight,

For justice, he battles with all his might.

Iustina, a force campaigning for years,

To free Patrick Zaki from silence’s fears. An angel, her heart pure,

Four years of dedication she gave,

Until his release, her strength she’d brave.

Rachele, born of Eritrean descent,

Humanitarian spirit, she’s sent.

Strong and dedicated to all she meets,

Her compassion knows no bounds or feats.

Nour, defying Egypt’s regime,

Imprisonment and death, a haunting dream.

Yet he stands tall for refugees’ right,

His wisdom shines in the darkest night.

Sofia, a young flower, forever bloom,

At fifteen, she founded youth’s amnesty room.

Years dedicated to the cause she loves,

Sowing seeds of change, like gentle doves.

Lidia, with eyes searching for her passion,

Journalism her tool, crossing each nation.

Seeing beyond borders, building bounds,

Her words unite, where division compounds.

Tiziano, a hope from Berlin’s heart,

Fighting injustice, a noble part.

With revolutionary ideas held high,

Uniting the world, he aims to try.

Francesca, derived from socialist love,

Building the funds, like wings of a dove.

Treasure in her hands, amnesty’s gold,

Her generosity, a story to be told.

Angela, amplifying voices, representing with care,

Standing tall beside Alessandro, a dynamic pair,

Ester, a mother to all voyagers, kind and true,

Guiding our journey, our hopes she grew, Without her, reaching the summer lab would not be in sight.

And I, from South Sudan’s tumultuous strife,

Defied death, defied darkness, rebuilding my life,

Surrounded by these incredible souls, I stand,

Amplifying neglected voices, lending a helping hand.

But there’s one thing I cannot defy,

The nightmares that haunt, the scars that won’t die,

My bleeding soul, burdened by what I’ve seen,

A reminder of the pain, where hope has been.

In the summer lab, people from all lands unite,

Harmony prevailing, injustice we fight,

My heart weeps, it bleeds with relief and sadness,

As I bid farewell to the island, the moments of gladness tightly bound.

Together we dined, we partied, we shared,

Unexpectedly met comrades who once cared.

In Libya, we protested, demanding our rights,

Justice, accountability in the darkest nights. But denial was our fate, a battle we fought, yet we resisted, scattered across lands, longing to be free.

Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria they fled,

While nature sailed me to Italy instead.

Our meeting, a blend of sorrow and delight,

Thinking of thousands still trapped in the fight.

Frontex arrival, a sorrowful aftermath, our longing cut short,

With a heartfelt “Vale,” we bid them support.

Lampedusa, this island of profound grace,

Holds more than words can ever embrace,

Forever in our hearts, its memory will reside.

We survived

This year, I did nothing but survive. I survived every suicidal thoughts that came into my mind, I survived every negative thought that made me feel I’m nothing. I survived the miseries to my failures and I started to hope and believing that the hour of success is coming tomorrow.

I did nothing but motivate myself to wake up with a positive mind. I mustered everything in me to keep myself from falling off track and give it all up because I felt so tired, the kind of tiredness that rest could never make up for, the kind of tiredness that makes you wish you could sleep for days and wake up just when everything’s alright. but in the end, I commend myself for trying, for surviving because after all, I get to see these beautiful things in front of me, feel this overwhelming love around me, and appreciate what I could grasp in my hands. I survived and so did you. with that, i’m glad.

•A survivor of the idiocracy•

Tomorrow will surely bring happiness but will have hard times looking for me

This is normal, and I often reach this point these days, instead of locking myself inside my own room and overthinking about certain things, I will sing until I become voiceless; run until my feet no longer have the courage to walk; cry until my body feels numb of everything. I look for calmness in between words and lyrics, roads and places, sobs and tears. Exhausting, but I will always seek for a rest after it.

The kind of sleep where all I could feel is like I am floating in free air. And it will take me quite a long while to regain my sanity; but at least, once I close my eyes, I will no longer care about the world around me; my head will only be filled with nothing. And I apologize for not replying for days; by that time, I decide not to answer any questions, because I am tired of feigning happiness.

Surely, peace will have a hard time looking for me again, but it will be back. I put all my trust in it.

•A survivor of the idiocracy•

The heartbreaking piece of a conversation

Her: And why do you want your future with me, exactly? There are a lot of girls besides me.

Me: Why do I want my future to be with you? Because I loved you from the first sight, I know you are a caring person, honest, truthful, beautiful and intelligent, that you need to be loved accordingly :)/

Yes there might be a lot of girls, and surely they are , but you are different, in your own way, you personalities and behaviors, your reasoning and senses, and I know that deep down in your heart you really wish to be loved for who you are, you wish to be cared for, you wish to be loved unconditionally both secretly and publicly, all humans are given the portion of love./

Her:😲🤦‍♀️ Loneliness is better for me and it is better for my family to be confident in me. I do not think about these things. I want to stay alone and I am so happy.

I’m not good at this– I don’t care about anyone, no one cares about me. The reason I lose people is because I do not care, nor do I call, or talk to them, I am always like this in my self.

Me: Don’t feel alone anymore, for me it doesn’t matter whether you care or not, just know that today you have David who will live to accept you the way you are, and will live to care for you /

Life have stages, and you just haven’t met the one you will always care about, the one you will always worry about his situation, what he eats, what he drinks, how he feels, how healthy he is./

Her: loneliness is beautiful for me

David, I don’t want you to cling to me too much because I’m not very good at caring about anyone, and one day I will disappear ☹️

I will not stay with you forever

“I hope you find a girl who is better than me and is good at this”

Me: Don’t worry I’m good to understand loneliness and misery because they have been my best friends, to understand life, one must endure misery and loneliness./

“We shall all disappear, perhaps I disappear first”/

Her: I bear this loneliness and I think this is better for me. I do not want to be associated

•A survivor of the idiocracy•

We are no longer strangers

Dear Está,

We first met at a time when texting had efficiently replaced calls, real-life interactions were scarcely looked forward to, and the only approachable way to start a conversation was social media. I texted you first and everything else magically fitted in, like every inch of it was meant to be.

Ah, I still remember that two-hour-long debate I had in my mind when I first wanted to tag you in one of the memes, and the anxiety that followed because I had absolutely no idea how you would react to a stranger tagging you in a random post.

You and I are exactly 18 hours and 45 minutes apart which makes my desire to meet you once understandable. For once, I would really want to have a good look at your face and not your filter-applied photographs; I want to know how you move, how your eyes wander around a place, how you panic. I want to touch you. Know what you feel like. Look at you smile, look at you weep. Look at you blush, look at you annoyed. I really wish I could do all that.

And, while my brain knows that you are just two states away, my heart constantly argues that this physical distance between us is equivalent to distance between the two poles, as most of the time I find myself waiting for your replies.

While the emotional fool in me fantasies to have a warm hug instead of those calming words of yours, which inculcated a sense of being in me, the realist in me quietly saves all my pocket money for making that one trip to an unknown land which nests someone so close.

Of all the Internet strangers, I am glad that you were destined to be mine. You taught me many things, from Islamic laws, law of nature to philosophical agendas of life, and my favourite one being that people will come and go, but you were here to stay.

You are my emotional support, the only one I trust enough to fall back on, and share all my uncanny secrets. Without you, I am a wreck of flawed dreams and forced smiles.

•A survivor of the idiocracy•