Alternative Africa

Top Menu

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Contact Us

Main Menu

  • Home
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business
  • Environment
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Reports
    • Africa-Observers
      • Read Reports
      • Submit a story
  • MORE
    • Health
    • News Now
    • World
    • Technology
Sign in / Join

Login

Welcome! Login in to your account
Lost your password?

Lost Password

Back to login
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Contact Us

logo

Alternative Africa

  • Home
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business
  • Environment
  • Politics
  • Sports
  • Reports
    • Africa-Observers
      • Read Reports
      • Submit a story
  • MORE
    • Health
    • News Now
    • World
    • Technology
  • Joe Biden says travel bans on UK, EU will stay despite Trump order

  • Nigeria in talks to produce licensed covid-19 vaccine locally, releases $26m as take-off grant

  • Zambia launches crackdown on unlicensed covid-19 drugs

  • Rwanda places capital, Kigali in second lockdown, ends free covid-19 treatment

  • Frontline Chinese medical doctors arrive Ghana to help combat surging coronavirus cases

AfricaEditorialsFeatureHealthNews Now
Home›Africa›My long, hazardous journey from the Mediterranean sea to COVID nursing job in Spain-Senegalese migrant

My long, hazardous journey from the Mediterranean sea to COVID nursing job in Spain-Senegalese migrant

By alternativeafrica
November 28, 2020
418
0
Share:

London, Nov. 28, 2020 (AltAfrica)-The six migrants listen attentively to Mbaye Babacar Diouf, whose own journey across the Atlantic to a job nursing COVID-19 patients in Spain and giving back to the community through his own non-profit would seem to scream success.

Mbaye Babacar Diouf, poses for a photo wearing his nurse’s uniform, at Basurto hospital, in Bilbao, northern Spain, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020. Mbaye Babacar Diouf’s life as a migrant in Europe took a turn for the better when he was adopted in Spain at the age of 28. That enabled him to pay his debts to human traffickers, study nursing and find a job at a Spanish hospital. Now he’s giving back to the community. In a Bilbao hospital he cares for COVID-19 patients. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)

But Babacar warns the men who’ve arrived from Senegal, Ghana and Morocco that he’s no role model.

Behind the appearance of triumph, he’s scarred from years of humiliation and exploitation trying to repay a 4,500-euro ($5,350) debt to human traffickers.

Mbaye Babacar Diouf, 33, displays a photo of himself with his Senegal’s mother on a phone, in his house in the basque city of Algorta, northern Spain, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020. Mbaye Babacar Diouf’s life as a migrant in Europe took a turn for the better when he was adopted in Spain at the age of 28. That enabled him to pay his debts to human traffickers, study nursing and find a job at a Spanish hospital. Now he’s giving back to the community. In a Bilbao hospital he cares for COVID-19 patients. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)

“I wish every one of you achieves your life goals, but I don’t desire for anybody the complicated and tough journey that I went through,” Senegal-born Babacar, 33, tells the group. He’s keen to make the point that Europe offers no panacea if the price is drowning at sea or living forever in society’s shadows.

READ ALSO: NIGERIA, LIBYA, SOMALIA LEAD AS TERRORISM COST AFRICA $13 BILLION IN 2019-REPORT

He acknowledges it’s a strange message from somebody who’s built a career that allows him to fly home to Dakar to visit a family he supports with remittances.

Mbaye Babacar Diouf, right, gestures, during a visit with his adoptive father Juan Gil, 74, in the basque city of Algorta, northern Spain, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020. Mbaye Babacar Diouf’s life as a migrant in Europe took a turn for the better when he was adopted in Spain at the age of 28. That enabled him to pay his debts to human traffickers, study nursing and find a job at a Spanish hospital. Now he’s giving back to the community. In a Bilbao hospital he cares for COVID-19 patients. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)

Dressed in a crisply ironed blue uniform, the dreadlocked and bespectacled man smiles generously. He speaks perfect Spanish, displaying a mix of kindness and self-confidence ahead of his night shift at Bilbao’s 700-bed Basurto University Hospital.

Dealing with the coronavirus has been stressful and emotional. “I’ve seen people die at sea, but this is different,” he says. “I love my job, but there have been situations that have churned my stomach.”

Long before Babacar could call the Basque city his home, there were tough nights sleeping in the open, surviving by street-peddling for migrant traffickers. The times when he couldn’t dodge police raids and landed in a cell, his dream of becoming a nurse seemed elusive.

Mbaye Bbacar Diouf, left, talks with migrants and volunteers during a workshop supporting migrants, in Bilbao, northern Spain, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020. Mbaye Babacar Diouf’s life as a migrant in Europe took a turn for the better when he was adopted in Spain at the age of 28. That enabled him to pay his debts to human traffickers, study nursing and find a job at a Spanish hospital. Now he’s giving back to the community. In a Bilbao hospital he cares for COVID-19 patients. (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)

The idea grew on him upon arrival in the Canary Islands. At 15, hungry and dehydrated after a 10-day journey among 8-meter waves, he was touched by the care Red Cross volunteers showed him and 137 others in his boat.

“That instant, I promised myself that one day I would be a nurse,” Babacar recounts.

It was 2003 and the Atlantic route of migration to Europe was seeing a surge that would peak three years later, with hundreds of lives swallowed by the sea.

Babacar still remembers the silence on the wooden fishing boat when, on the seventh day of their second attempted crossing, they encountered dozens of floating corpses.

“That’s when you realize that there is no way back,” he says. “Either you make it or you die.”​

The boats are again departing in droves. And migrant-trafficking mafias continue extending their tentacles deep into European soil, tracking their victims wherever they go and charging them for a place to sleep, documents that can open doors to healthcare, or petty illegal jobs. Some never escape the vicious circle of debt and irregularity.

“Nothing has changed,” says Babacar. “The journey on the boat can last just a few tough days, but adapting to a system that leaves us in limbo, on European soil but without permission to legally work, is like being born again and having to relearn everything.”

Life took a sharp turn for the better when he met Juan Gil, the man he now calls “Aita,” father in Basque.

Babacar washed dishes at a bar. Gil needed some refurbishing work done at home. Soon, the young worker became a guest at every meal. Gil had lost his mother recently and his daughter had moved out, so he persuaded Babacar to move in — leaving his overpriced bed in a four-room apartment shared with 15 other men.

“I told my daughter Mbaye was lucky. But she told me we had been the lucky ones with him,” says Gil, 74, an artist and retired art teacher. “And she was absolutely right.”

At 28, after a lengthy and expensive battle against bureaucracy, Babacar was officially adopted by Gil — the surname now listed on his Spanish passport.

He was able to pay back his remaining debt, send more money to relatives, enrol in nursing school and, upon graduation, secure a job with the Basque regional public health service. But his eyes are already set on his next goal: studying medicine and returning to Senegal to continue, as a physician, with the work of his NGO, Sunu Gaal, or “Our Fishing Boat” in Senegal’s Wolof language.

The organization works to help both migrants in Bilbao and youth back in Senegal, where it’s trying to build a school.

“The idea is not to tell them to migrate or to stay put,” explains Babacar. “The goal is to infuse them with critical thinking to make informed decisions and not to fall prey to the mafias.”

___

“One Good Thing” is a series that highlights individuals whose actions provide glimmers of joy in hard times — stories of people who find a way to make a difference, no matter how small. Read the collection of stories at https://apnews.com/hub/one-good-thing.

SHARE ON:
TagsSenegalese Migrant
Previous Article

Canada, US, EU could approve Pfizer COVID-19 ...

Next Article

Seven more covid-19 vaccines expected by mid ...

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

alternativeafrica

Related articles More from author

  • HealthNews Now

    The Elizabeth Taylor Human Rights Award honours Kenyan lawyer Allan Achesa Maleche

    July 22, 2018
    By alternativeafrica
  • HealthNews NowWorld

    US to begin Covid-19 vaccinations on Monday

    December 13, 2020
    By alternativeafrica
  • News Now

    Let’s defeat boko haram’s ideology with education and enlightenment-MURIC

    January 9, 2018
    By alternativeafrica
  • AfricaBusinessHealthNews Now

    Egypt takes delivery of Chinese covid-19 vaccine

    December 11, 2020
    By alternativeafrica
  • AfricaNews Now

    U.S. warns of possible attacks in Uganda, Tanzania

    June 20, 2019
    By alternativeafrica
  • News Now

    Nigeria: Ex-banker arrested on wedding day over N1million fraud

    August 16, 2018
    By alternativeafrica

Leave a reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

You might be interested

  • News NowPolitics

    Sao Tome: Ruling ADI party loses absolute majority in National Assembly Election

  • AfricaBusinessNews Now

    Nigeria resumes TraderMoni loans with 200,000 Kano traders

  • AfricaBusinessNews Now

    Madagascar integrates, solar hydroelectricity for new 35MW power project

Timeline

  • January 19, 2021

    Joe Biden says travel bans on UK, EU will stay despite Trump order

  • January 19, 2021

    Nigeria in talks to produce licensed covid-19 vaccine locally, releases $26m as take-off grant

  • January 19, 2021

    Zambia launches crackdown on unlicensed covid-19 drugs

  • January 19, 2021

    Rwanda places capital, Kigali in second lockdown, ends free covid-19 treatment

  • January 19, 2021

    Frontline Chinese medical doctors arrive Ghana to help combat surging coronavirus cases

  • Popular

  • Comments

  • Lagos govt confirms first case of deadly coronavirus infection in Nigeria

    By alternativeafrica
    February 28, 2020
  • Keynote Address of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at 2018 Oxford Africa Conference

    By PSJ Africa
    May 14, 2018
  • Morocco begins regional integration by connecting Casablanca Airport with High Speed Train

    By alternativeafrica
    January 4, 2020
  • Kenyan govt pressure Facebook for data on Kenyan users

    By alternativeafrica
    November 20, 2019
  • Nigeria: 32,000 capacity Lagos rice mill to start production in 2020

    By alternativeafrica
    December 23, 2019
  • The return of fortress conservation: why excluding people means biodiversity conservation will fail – Future agricultures
    on
    October 16, 2020

    Inside the training camp of Akashinga, Zimbabwe’s armed, all-women anti-poaching rangers

    […] In parallel to ...
  • The return of fortress conservation: why excluding people means biodiversity conservation will fail - The Zimbabwean
    on
    October 12, 2020

    Inside the training camp of Akashinga, Zimbabwe’s armed, all-women anti-poaching rangers

    […] In parallel to ...
  • Ethiopia joins Africa's Artificial Intelligence revolution | Alternative Africa
    on
    October 2, 2020

    Spending on Artificial Intelligence Systems in Africa, Middle East to top $374 million in 2020

    […] Many African countries ...
  • The 5 most popular Africans 2020
    on
    September 25, 2020

    Celebrating Congolese doctor Jean-Jacques Muyembe, the man behind breakthrough of Ebola cure

    […] Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe ...
  • Millitants in Central Mali Set Jail Ablaze in Attack Killing Two | taktik(z) GDI (Government Defense ...
    on
    August 11, 2020

    Fifteen gendarmes killed in another attack on Mali camp

    […] attack fol­lowed a January ...
AlternativeAfrica.com is an independent Pan African News Website dedicated primarily to influencing the negative narratives about Africa. We hope to do this by focusing and showcasing the many developmental strides sweeping across the continent.

Read more >>>

Contact Info

  • 22 Laburnum Court, Laburnum Road, Mitcham London, CR4 2NA, United Kingdom
  • +44(0)2036320939 | +44(0)7535019197 | +44(0)7305356327
  • info@alternativeafrica.com
  • Recent

  • Popular

  • Comments

  • Joe Biden says travel bans on UK, EU will stay despite Trump order

    By alternativeafrica
    January 19, 2021
  • Nigeria in talks to produce licensed covid-19 vaccine locally, releases $26m as take-off grant

    By alternativeafrica
    January 19, 2021
  • Zambia launches crackdown on unlicensed covid-19 drugs

    By alternativeafrica
    January 19, 2021
  • Rwanda places capital, Kigali in second lockdown, ends free covid-19 treatment

    By alternativeafrica
    January 19, 2021
  • Lagos govt confirms first case of deadly coronavirus infection in Nigeria

    By alternativeafrica
    February 28, 2020
  • Keynote Address of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo at 2018 Oxford Africa Conference

    By PSJ Africa
    May 14, 2018
  • Macron in Ivory Coast to launch anti-terrorism academy

    By alternativeafrica
    December 21, 2019
  • Kenyan govt pressure Facebook for data on Kenyan users

    By alternativeafrica
    November 20, 2019
  • The return of fortress conservation: why excluding people means biodiversity conservation will fail – Future agricultures
    on
    October 16, 2020

    Inside the training camp of Akashinga, Zimbabwe’s armed, all-women anti-poaching rangers

    […] In parallel to ...
  • The return of fortress conservation: why excluding people means biodiversity conservation will fail - The Zimbabwean
    on
    October 12, 2020

    Inside the training camp of Akashinga, Zimbabwe’s armed, all-women anti-poaching rangers

    […] In parallel to ...
  • Ethiopia joins Africa's Artificial Intelligence revolution | Alternative Africa
    on
    October 2, 2020

    Spending on Artificial Intelligence Systems in Africa, Middle East to top $374 million in 2020

    […] Many African countries ...
  • The 5 most popular Africans 2020
    on
    September 25, 2020

    Celebrating Congolese doctor Jean-Jacques Muyembe, the man behind breakthrough of Ebola cure

    […] Dr. Jean-Jacques Muyembe ...

Photostream

    Follow us

    • Home
    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Contact Us
    © Copyright Alternative Africa 2019. All rights reserved.