Beyond the Sea: A Story of Hope

A deeply moving narrative where clay shapes the raw memory of a migration journey from Ivory Coast. Shifting from the painful reality of a leaking boat to the hopeful sight of two birds announcing land, this story stands as a powerful testament to survival, rebirth, and heartfelt gratitude toward Termini Imerese, the author's new home.

STORIES FROM ITALY

6/24/20261 min read

Yet, within the darkness of this memory, there is light. The hope of reaching a happy land is embodied in that small strip of earth I shaped, where two birds and a red heart rest. Their song takes me back in time, to the birdsong that used to wake me up in Ivory Coast; but in the sculpture, those two doves represent the exact moment we finally sighted land from our boat. It was the announcement of salvation, the end of an odyssey. The precise moment I was allowed to start living again here, in Termini Imerese my new home, a city I will never stop thanking.

It is true, during the workshop we were supposed to talk about my culture, the heritage I carry within me, and what I wish to pass on. But as I tried, my hands began to shape something else; my mind drifted away. Thinking of my home, of Ivory Coast, still hurts too much sometimes. And so, what truly surfaced was the journey: everything I had to face, everything I saw and lived through, without ever losing faith. Because this, in the end, is meant to be a story of hope.

This clay boat holds a promise, but also an illusion. The illusion of having invested everything we owned into a dangerous, uncertain journey, clinging to the promise that it would be the voyage of a lifetime. We thought we would sail on a real ship, but instead, we were crammed onto a battered, makeshift boat. Around the necks of the people, I modeled tires, the only life jackets we had. And the soundtrack to those days wasn't just the sound of the sea, but the desperate, rhythmic scrape of a bowl we took turns using, over and over, to scoop out the water leaking through the cracks.

HERS

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.

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hers@odyssea.com