Roberto, Italy

"Hello there,
the second leg of the Bel Espoir journey has ended, the anchor has been dropped in the
waters of Palermo a second time and now the sailing ship is ready for the next adventures,
while each of us adventurers is returning home.
It was a journey physical, metaphorical and for the non-religious metaphysical, for the
religious spiritual, in one word HUMAN.
I and a few others joined the crew late, skipping almost all the activities in Palermo,
arriving just in time to set sail.
Life on board is usually calm like in a house. We divided ourselves into seven groups so
that each one did a service per day: cooking, serving, cleaning both at lunch and dinner
and the seventh did a general cleaning of the ship.
Every day we had to experience a moment, called TeamTime, of sharing about various
topics divided into groups, initially formed only by participants in the project, sometimes
some sailors also joined.
The second leg of the project had in particular the theme of education, so for each theme
we analyzed a connection with the main one.
These activities already took up a large part of the day, sometimes, since several days we
went walking on the islands, we did two of them simultaneously to make up for those of the
previous days.
Our route was Palermo-Levanzo Levanzo-Sardinia Sardinia-Bizerte and finally Bizerte-
Palermo.
The first day was our journey to hell. It was the new moon. After the first five minutes of
exclamations of joy and amazement for the departure you could hear moans of vomiting
and nausea with buckets that were emptied out continuously. Almost all of us were really
sick, but we all felt in the same situation, indeed as they say "we were all in the same
boat"! This already created bonds.
After the storm peace arrived, due to the lack of wind we stopped in Levanzo and finally
rested. We began to discuss in TeamTimes about inner peace, peace dialogue, the
narrative of peace and shared life experiences. In the meantime the Moon was growing.
After this short break we started to roll up our sleeves and learn to sail. It usually takes a
day to get used to the waves. Then you start to fold the sails, close them and open them.
Emotions that are difficult to describe. In the meantime the Moon had almost reached the
halfway point of its circle, just like our journey.
In this part of the journey we discussed about what separates and what unites the five
shores of the Mediterranean and the challenges that all countries currently have to face,
such as migration and climate change. We also asked ourselves whether religions are an
obstacle or a resource for peace and what the daily role of education is in building a
fraternal world and how each of us had been trained to be a bearer of peace.
Among the most magical moments were the nights. The stars, the galaxies, the sea, the
waves, the ripples, the Moon. The Moon accompanied us silently, growing together with
the strength of the bonds of our nascent family. The Moon guided and protected us silently
as Mary watched over baby Jesus as he grew. And we listened to nature… we talked with
our own heart, with our own mind and with God. At night we souls disoriented by life,
exchanged parts of our essence with others. Personally, I learned a lot by discovering the
lives of people very different from me, from my family, but who faced similar situations.

I was the youngest, together with another boy my age. I felt like everyone's little brother, I
got into the role of being the “cuddled” one who brings joy… and a bit of physics at
breakfast, lunch and dinner.
The night was also the time for shifts to sail. You always need someone awake to be at the
helm and to change the position of the sails at the right time. There were always four
sailors and at least two of us. On Friday we questioned our Muslim brothers and sisters
about their customs unknown to us, while on Sunday we organized a moment of prayer
celebrating the liturgy of the word and singing in various languages.
And so a week passed, disconnected from the world but connected with nature and with
God|Allah.
The first quarter of the Moon arrived and between sunset and sunrise we arrived in
Bizerte.
Here we waited quite a while for the bureaucratic activities of the documents. But all
together we sang, played and the wait was not felt.
After a quiet first evening spent in the city we were welcomed by the local community.
On the morning of Tuesday, April 8, we visited one of the Catholic schools. There, the
bishop, a representative of the Tunisian parliament, and a university history professor
explained to us how, over the centuries, this country has been the cradle of various ethnic
groups, religions, and different cultures, and how they have integrated with each other and
with the political world. It was surprising for me to discover how similar the history of
Tunisia is to that of Sicily.
In the evening, an intercultural party with typical dances from each country.
On Wednesday 9, we went to Menzel Bouguiba, in the school of the Salesian nuns, who
taught us how education is “the matter of the heart” through interactive games.
In the afternoon, we visited the ruins of Carthage! It was like traveling through time.
Imagination and the information studied at school gave life to a splendid animation,
starting from the remaining walls, we imagined the city, the colors, the confusion in the
streets. I would say perhaps the most magical place, together with the amphitheater where
Saint Perpetua and Saint Felicity were martyred.
In the evening we went to Sidi Bou Said for mass and a farewell dinner with the
community.
We shed the first tears of farewell to our new Tunisian family.
The next morning we set sail for Palermo! The moon was almost full.
This time we were aware that our journey was about to end and we enjoyed as much as
we could the dolphins, the night shifts and all the life on the ship already described.
We discussed education and justice for the future, the role of women in the Mediterranean
and at last we shared our examples of witnesses of hope who lived in our cities, I shared
the contribution that Chiara Lubich and Biagio Conte have given in today's times and in
our society.
Back in Palermo we took stock of our experience in a very profound moment that ended
with an order of 17 family pizzas!
Personally, from this experience I bring home a great peace in my soul and a risen
relationship with myself and with life.
Before leaving I was living a moment of inner confusion.
At the beginning of this academic year I had found myself and my place in the university.
Today I think I was so happy to have found myself that I unconsciously no longer wanted
to change, to grow. I was afraid of who I would choose to be. But life goes on and this
block tore me apart inside, I wanted to be strong pretending not to have this problem and

instead I discovered I was weak. Thanks to the comparison with the other members of the
crew and a night of stars and silences I understood that I should not be afraid of changing,
and that whoever I will be will not be someone different from who I am now, but the person
I will choose to be is already inside me. I understood that choosing to be is actually
discovering to be, just like I have done so far, but much deeper.
I experienced the trip on the Bel Espoir as an Easter. The first day I was full of doubts
about life, I didn't want to get on the boat, I trusted the people close to me and I found
myself vomiting for ten consecutive hours constantly asking myself the meaning of
everything, with a storm outside and inside me. Then with the trips to the islands I lived my
search for peace, my waiting for rebirth, like Holy Saturday entrusting my life to a God in
whom I hoped but did not perceive. Finally, when I saw a family realized in the
Mediterranean I understood, I remembered, that my goal, my purpose, is "that all may be
one". This is my direction, this is my choice, this is my hope.
The last night there was the full moon”

Roberto