When we returned to the ship in the afterglow of our lovely day in Trapani, Sicily, gazing one last time at the city from our veranda, we curiously noticed the approach of a large boat arriving at the port next to us. It was filled, standing shoulder to shoulder, with black skinned people, some in native dress, patient and wearied, heading toward a berth prepared to welcome them to a row of Italian Red Cross tents poised with awaiting medical staff, ambulances, and officials.
The ship, named “Dignity I”, was an MSF Sea Rescue boat sponsored by “Médicins Sans Frontières”, the equivalent of “Doctors Without Borders”, a humanitarian organization that delivers emergency medical aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural and man-made disasters, or exclusion from health care in more than sixty countries. These may have been people that were rescued from ill-fated attempts to escape their conflicted homeland by sea, refugees possibly from nearby Tunisia, only 150 nautical miles away. It took hours to dock, unload and process all these passengers as, in stark contrast, we viewed the scene from the comfort of our sprawling ship veranda, while awaiting canapés delivered to our suite and contemplating our most important decision of the day…at which restaurant we would dine that evening.
One of the great opportunities of travel is to see the world in context. The plight of refugees is worldwide news, but now, for me, it has a face.
