by
Pamela Kerpius

Recorded:
10 September 2021

Published:
17 September 2021

Meet Alpha.

15 years old and from Bundung, a neighborhood in Serekunda, Gambia.

To reach Europe he crossed six countries: The Gambia, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Libya.

His journey took about one year and five months.

He jumped in a taxi to Banjul then took a ferry boat to the Senegalese border. The police were there checking passengers and taking bribes to let them pass. From the ground in Senegal, he traveled by motorcycle taxi to an unnamed city and stayed one night. The next day he got a bus ticket that would take him direct to Niamey, Niger; it was valid for a whole month, so he had time to stop in between and still get to the final destination.

He arrived in Bamako, Mali, and stayed one night, sleeping in the car. “I cannot count the checkpoints,” Alpha said, because there were so many along the way. The one at the border with Burkina Faso was just one among many. He traveled through Burkina and arrived in Niamey, Niger and stayed for two or 3 months.

He was stuck for such a long time due to the fact that he was out of money. He slept on the ground in the bus station. Finally, his brother in Mauritania wired him money to continue his journey. He arrived in Agadez, Niger and stayed in a compound with about 30-50 people for five months.

It was dangerous to go out alone. People were threatened at knifepoint. He ate together with groups of others, a situation that allowed them to pool their money and resources to have a better meal.

Alpha crossed the Sahara desert in the back of a pickup truck with 30 people including two women. He had gallons of water in the truck with him to survive, and held a stick that was planted at the base of the truck to keep himself steady during the bumpy travel.

He shared his portion of water with others who needed it.

“We only have each other,” Alpha said, “That’s life.”

He saw groups of abandoned people across the desert. Their driver said he left for petrol, but never came back.

In transit, the truck doesn’t stop for passengers, so when Alpha had to pee, he did so over the edge of the truck. The driver suddenly stopped and beat him with a stick for it. He said he had urinated over the food and water supply kept under the truck.

The sun is “very hot” he said about being in the desert. His head was wrapped in cloth to protect himself from the heat, “Like a ninja,” Alpha said, “Like the Taliban.”

He saw headstones in the dirt from other passengers who had died. His stomach and digestion was bad. Much later, he was urinating blood from the infections.

He left for the Sahara on a Monday and crossed it in four days, finally entering Libya on a Thursday.  Everyone in his truck survived. 

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In Bayyah*, Libya he stayed for three months in a connection house that held nearly 100 people. He worked during this time, earning 5 Libyan dinars a day doing housework and cleaning, and also mechanical work, like welding. But overall it wasn’t safe. Sometimes there were shootings.

There were nearly 30 people in the car he took to Sabha, Libya, a trip that went on continuously for three or 4 days with only stops for the toilet or prayer. His friend was sick, dizzy from the exhausting travel. He stayed in a connection house in Sabha that held more than 200 people. He was there for a night or two, and sent people out on his behalf to get food and water. It was not safe. Many people, he said, were in prison there.

He traveled to Bani Waled in the back of a pickup truck, and stayed for three or 4 days. He did not sleep. He passed through next to Tripoli, which took one or 2 days.

He stayed in a compound in Tripoli that held more than 3,000 people, by his estimation, for six months. It was one big room that he slept in, on the floor. If he wanted food, he had to work. He smoked marijuana to keep his nerves calm and to avoid eating. His stomach was still sick.

He went to Garabulli and from there left for a boat that pushed off the Libyan shore at 3:00a.m., but the dinghy was faulty. The captain could not actually operate the boat, and they were picked up after 10 hours at sea. On land, they were going to take him to prison. He lost contact with the captain, who he still owed 700 dinars for the journey. There was a bus with 120 people aboard. It was headed to Libyan prison, in Garabulli.

He knew what his fate would be there. The bus slowed at on oncoming roundabout in the road. He slid out of the window and fell to the ground to escape. He landed hard, hitting his head and breaking or hurting badly his finger. He kept trying to stand up. He kept falling. His head injury from the fall was severe. He was staggering. He couldn’t speak. He finally crossed the road to a man driving – he remembers the car model – a Mercedes-Benz 190 who helped him get away.

In Zuwara he waited a week, and saw the captain of his boat again who told him to sit still and wait.

It was time to go. He piled into a boat that held 150 people, but was too overloaded to make it. Petrol was leaking and mixing with the sea water, burning peoples’ skin, also his, “It was like pepper” on his skin, he said. The boat returned to shore to offload some of the people and distribute them across two dinghies.

Alpha crossed the Mediterranean Sea in one of those rubber dinghies at 5:00 or 6:00a.m. on 11 June 2017 with 120 people, including one woman. He was out at sea for five hours before an Algerian fishing boat called for rescue. He was saved by the Italian coast guard, the Guardia Costiera, and was aboard that ship for four days.

He landed in Taranto in Puglia, Italy on 15 June 2017. “Benvenuto,” welcome, Alpha said.

He is 19 years of age now and living in Baexem, Netherlands, where we recorded this story on 10 September 2021.

Alpha is an amazing human being.

*Location name not confirmed