Stronger

"When you go to the sea you can't let yourself drown."

This was the phrase that impacted me the most when I met with Dursa, a 26-year-old Ethiopian who arrived in Malta 7 years ago.

Dursa works as an accountant and studies business administration. He is also an excellent athlete.

More than 7 years ago Dursa was forced to leave his country because of politics and war. With his determination and instinct, he decided to leave home and jumped into the sea to venture to other lands. During his journey he lived in Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Libya and Malta. He learned a lot of things that made him stronger, including how to speak 5 languages – Maltese, Oromo, Arabic, English, and Amharic.

Life has taught him many things. When he first arrived in Malta, he didn’t know any English. After being in detention for 11 months, he started to live as a refugee, but the living conditions were not good.  For more than a year he tried to find a job with no success, but studying was always important to him. He knew that if he wanted to get ahead, he needed to study, so he started to study English every week. Then he started studying nursing, and now he is studying business administration.

Dursa is a lover of sports. When he started playing football in Malta, he tried to play with a lot of different teams but he never could fit in. Instead, he decided to go for track and field. He practices alone and challenges himself, training hard every day from 8 to 10 pm to qualify for the Olympics, which is his big dream now. He is convinced that with hard work and discipline he will make his dream come true.

Dursa’s family lives in Ethiopia. Because he is not allowed to leave Europe, he hasn’t seen them for 7 years.  He said it is very difficult to find someone he can feel comfortable with, so he doesn't have a lot of friends. He lives alone and keeps busy studying, working, and exercising.

When Dursa was 12 years old, he got involved in politics – a decision that changed his life. He regrets getting involved in politics at such a young age. Times were hard in Ethiopia, and politicians had no plans to build the country up; they were only out to feed themselves. So Dursa was part of the opposition.

After living in Malta for seven years, he feels that he will never be part of Malta. Every day he faces racism, especially from Maltese people. Last year this feeling increased.

The pandemic has produced a great change in people's mentality and for some strange reason the constant feeling of rejection is felt in the streets. During this period of COVID, discrimination and hatred have increased even more. There is a constant feeling of fear in the air so dense that it is sometimes difficult to ignore. Still, no matter what the road brings, Dursa is convinced that not even the biggest pandemic is going to stop him. He knows that great things are still ahead of him, and with effort, discipline, and perseverance, dreams come true.