"I would not do it again!" Muhammed "Lexy" Sanneh

                                         "I would not do it again!"

Many people would do almost anything for $1 million. 

"You could give me $1million and I would not do it again," 22 year-old Muhammed "Lexy" Sanneh told London-based journalist Ismail Einashe recently. What would he not do again? Take a nine-month journey from Basse, a northern town in The Gambia (the smallest country) in West Africa, through the desert of North Africa to Libya "which was mired in civil war". There  he "witnessed horrific beatings of migrants by trafficers." He was an orphan, just 16 years old at the time.




"The torturous sea crossing still haunts him - the small dinghy....with terrified, vomiting people for hours spent in the middle of an expanse of rough water" is something he cannot forget. But Muhammed "Lexy" Sanneh was fortunate. He did not drown in the Mediterranean Sea as so many migrants have.

In August 2015 he was rescued by Italian lifeguards on the Mediterranean Sea. Nine months after leaving his home in Africa he found himself "at a camp for migrant minors in Agrigento."

He was fortunate. Very fortunate, indeed. Yet there was more to come!

The camp was run by Antonio and Guisella Ferraro. "Lexy" was then fostered through a process where a child is placed in the family of a government-certified caregiver or foster parent. I thought this was a great idea, but it is not unique. In fact, "Some Italians in recent years have used this process to formally foster the thousands of unaccompanied minors arriving from countries such as Nigeria, Mali, The Gambia and Senegal."

Lexy's story is heartwarming. His foster parents love him dearly, they respect his Islamic faith and say he is the son they had always hoped for. He is "an integral part of the closeknit family."  When he had spent five months in the camp and the the Ferraros wanted to adopt him in 2016, they graciously called his grandmother in The Gambia to get her permission. She gave them her blessing.

Time has passed. Lexy worked with foster parent Antonio at the camp for some time. Then he found "a  job he loves." He speaks Italian fluently and has no intention of leaving beautiful Sicily.

Some stories do have a happy ending,

Indeed.

                                                    ===000===


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