Finally sailing!
Finally the ALAN KURDI is on the way to the operational area, where we‘re urgently needed!
My name is Kai and I am the coordinator of voluntary work for Sea-Eye at land. In the next weeks I will be on my first rescue mission with Sea-Eye. In some blog entries I will tell about my personal experiences and thoughts.
Last week on Thursday I started with the car and two crew-members, Jonas and Joris, going from Cologne to Burriana in Spain and on Friday we first met the whole crew.
On board of the ALAN KURDI we are 11 voluntaries, 8 professionals and 1 journalist. Some are going on mission for the first time and others have a lot of experience. The crew comes from Germany, Spain, Ghana, Portugal and Austria.
During the last days we prepared the ship for the mission and did several trainings. For example we simulated an trained the rescues with our dinghys in different scenarios. Also we practiced the scenarios “Fire on Board” and “Abandoning the Ship” and could form a team already.
In the next days on our way to the operational area in the central Mediterranean we will be doing some trainings and then we‘ll be well prepared for the rescues operations.
First it felt a bit like going on a holiday, but on the other hand I feel a big respect for the task to come and I reflect what could happen.
I think about how different the chances and possibilities of people are. Because in a rescue operation people meet, who had completely different chances and possibilities in their life.
We could drive the 1800 km by car and could pass 3 country borders without any problems. In the past days we went to the beach and could easily go to a restaurant.
The persons which we might save next week, are on their way since months or years and have big problems with passing a border. I‘m wondering what they are experiencing now. Maybe some are tortured in Libya in this moment or they go on a small rubberboat in the hope to get a life like ours. Again it becomes clear to me how lucky we were to be born in Germany. This inequality should not be.
With solidarity greetings
Kai
