by Pamela Kerpius
Italy Correspondent & Founder

17 March 2020

Dear Friends,

I am thinking of you.

In the midst of the intense fear and isolation we experience in the COVID-19 pandemic before us now, be reminded that you are not alone. We will move through this period of extreme uncertainty with our hearts open together.

The whole Migrants of the Mediterranean team and I are doubly committed to making sure everyone in our lives is accounted for––colleagues, neighbors, friends and loved ones. And to each other, we have restated our commitment as a team.

It is clear that the only way through a time that demands we avoid social encounter, the very thing we need most as human beings to survive, is to find connection through whatever means we still have available.

For me, that means 24/7 availability on WhatsApp to the migrants I work with who are currently on lockdown in their apartments and housing camps across Italy and Germany.

There are 8 hours of time difference between the desert just outside of Phoenix, Arizona, where I am currently sequestered with my family, to Europe and the Italian peninsula.

But we connect.

We are doing so every day, at almost any hour now, and will continue to until it is safe for me to resume travel and be on the ground in Italy to meet them face-to-face again.

This is my commitment.

There is fear in our voices, but also relief that we can still come together in spite of this seemingly unconquerable distance. Distance, we have learned, cannot halt our mission for human connection.

We share messages of encouragement, support and love.

We are there for each other.

We are remembering how special it is that we know each other––how random it was to find each other on that island where no one else could see us, and still bring ourselves current, whole and fully ourselves into this moment.

We are are speechless to see we are still there for each other after so much time.

We are lucky to have each other.

I am lucky to have them.

And I am lucky to have you.

All of you mean a lot to me and the Migrants of the Mediterranean team and to the people we profile. Thank you for being here with us.

I urge everyone to stay safe and healthy, and to move through this difficult period with all of your strength to maintain peace in your mind and heart.

There are better times ahead.

With Love,

Pamela Kerpius
Italy Correspondent & Founder
Migrants of the Mediterranean