Chapter 6: The crossing
Since 2014, the Mediterranean Sea has become the world's largest graveyard. Yet, every day, exhausted young people, tested by months of captivity, continue to brave "the boza " - to cross the sea. Imprisoned for his political writings in his home country, Chérif took the murderous sea with his "little brother" whom he met on the road.
Click here to read the rest of the story, written and sung by the young survivors of Limbo.
LITTLE BROTHER
Text Chérif, music Mathias Duplessy
We met in Algeria
You were 16 years old, you were small
But even small, you fed me
Little brother
You got into the zodiac
Nothing to drink, nothing to eat
You saw that woman and her baby
One day, she stopped breathing
On the fourth day, the sea was rough
Fear, waves and nausea
Floods of petrol that burned us
Little brother
In the distance a boat, a Red Cross
There were thirty of us, all thirty jumped
And you couldn't swim
Little brother
Little brother,You saw all this
And the sea of shipwrecked people
You saw all this
Little brother,You saw all this
I wish I could have saved you
Sitting on board, I closed my eyes
I reopened them,
All I saw were the ropes, Pulling your body out of the water
Little brother
Little brother, you had a name!
Mohamed Saada
Yo Allah innoumo yafou (May your soul rest in peace)
Ko Allah hodiri (God has asked you)
Ya lou tou kon di ya (to stay in the ocean)
Yo Allah innoumo yafou (May your soul rest in peace)
Mohamed Saada
Sago anno (If I could have)
Makata noma (I would have saved you)
Little brother,You saw all this
And the sea of shipwrecked people
You saw all this
Little brother
You saw all this
Yet it was you who saved me