July 18, 2014

Couple take migrant rescue mission into their own hands

located:	Italy
editor:	Vanessa Ellingham

Here at fairplanet we are big believers in the saying, "Be the change that you wish to see in the world."

This week the Guardian broke the remarkable story of two ordinary folk doing just that: making a very real contribution to their vision of a better world.

A married couple based in Malta are thought to be the first people to ever launch a private search and rescue mission for migrants crossing the Mediterranean by boat.

Using a vessel which was previously used for rescue missions in the US, along with drone technology, Regina Catrambone and her husband have engaged a retired head of the Maltese army to lead the mission, which they have called the Migrant Offshore Aid Station.

Catrambone told the Guardian that her first encounter with migrants in the Mediterranean was when she saw a lone winter jacket floating in the sea during a cruise she took to Tunisia. The image stuck in her mind.

But she said the turning point came when she saw Pope Francis on television: "Looking directly into the camera, he said that all those who had the possibility to help the migrants should do so."

Both devout Roman Catholics, Catrambone and her husband purchased the boat shortly afterward, along with two camcopters which they are waiting to have delivered.

While she admits that the Maltese and Italian coastguard rescuers might be sceptical of their efforts at first, she is clear that her team aims to help, rather than compete, with their work.

"These people are desperate," she said. "We just want to make sure that they do not die in desperation."

Although most of us are not in the position to purchase our own rescue equipment, just like Catrambone and her husband we can each find our own ways to help.

Nelson Mandela, whose birthday it would have been today, probably best highlighted the tool which we all have at our disposal: "Education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world."