This is no joke. It’s a true story about a man, his wife and
daughter, who decided to help save some of the thousands of people who are
fleeing hell-on-earth in North Africa for their dream of freedom in Europe .
Nearly 2,000 refugees have drown in the Mediterranean making their way to
freedom, fleeing oppression, rape and torture, just trying to get to a safer
place in Europe. The European powers have rescued nearly 50,000.
Still they keep coming…risking everything including their
lives… hoping, praying… for a better life… somewhere, anywhere.
Working with the Italian, British, German, Maltese, and
Swedish navies, as well as Doctors without Borders,
Christopher Catrambone, his
wife and daughter, financed and helped crew a dedicated rescue vessel to help bring some of the refugees to safety.
“Whatever the future holds, nothing can change the fact that
the Catrambones – initially self-financed, freelance operators – have set both
a precedent and, having never lost a life, a standard. Those who care about
migrants drowning, Catrambone insists, no longer have to wait for governments
to act. They can turn, instead, to The Migrant Offshore Aid Station (Moas) or other NGOs. He had already told me
that if the family business ever went down, he and Regina would have no regrets about spending so
much time and money on Moas. “A lot of people say: ‘Oh, look at the
millionaires! They’ve spent a lot of money’,” he said. “I’ve invested my life
into this and my family has invested our savings. This is important for us and
we believe in it. And you know what, if I am poor one day and I’m out in the
street, well so be it. But we did this. And we are proud of it. I will never
take anything back.”
Go here for the story: “The millionaire who rescues migrantsat sea”, Giles Tremlett, The Guardian, 8 July 2015.
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