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Far-Flung Postcards is a weekly series in which NPR's international team shares moments from their lives and work around the world.
It was my fifth day aboard a boat in the Mediterranean Sea with the humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders, while reporting on their attempts to rescue migrants stranded at sea. We'd set off a year ago from the Italian port of Civitavecchia, and in the 10 days I was aboard their ship, the Geo Barents, they saved 258 lives.
These migrants — some whole families, one teenager traveling alone, many young men, a mother with her three young children — had started their journey in Libya, paying smugglers thousands of dollars for this chance to reach Europe. A shot in the dark.
For the rescuers on the Geo Barents, this work was exhausting, traumatizing — and inspiring. They could be at sea for months. The best respite was on the boat's helipad. The spot variously served as a jogging track and a place for yoga and meditation. There would be several staff members at any one time out running in the afternoons.
One evening, the rescuers and I watched as these dolphins swam alongside the ship. Their leaps and games in the frothy water made our hearts soar. It reminded me that even in this sometimes cruel world, life and beauty persist.
See more photos from around the world:
- Greetings from Kyiv, where you might stumble across Zelenskyy taking a stroll
- Greetings from Guatemala, where one person's trash becomes another's colorful art
- Greetings from American University of Beirut, where more than 1,000 cats roam
- Greetings from a peaceful woodland near the River Thames west of London
- Greetings from Guhagar, India, where newly hatched turtles get some help into the sea
You can check out all the Far-Flung Postcards here.
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