He is committed to making the stories of the castaways known
“The Cutro massacre really affected me deeply because it happened a few kilometers from my home and I felt the duty to make my closeness felt to those people and make their stories known”.
A commitment which earned him, at 14 years of age still to be fulfilled – he will do so on 29 August – the nomination as “Standard of the Republic” by the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, for his commitment on the issue of migration and for having “tried through dialogue and discussion, to overcome indifference and to restore dignity to the victims, their families and the survivors of the massacre”.
Giovanni Prestinice, from Crotone, was caught off guard by the nomination and learned about it from ANSA while he was with his parents in Sila: “I thank the head of state for thinking of me. I’m really surprised and happy. To Mattarella I would just like to say not to forget young Calabrians like me. They are very important like all young people because we will be the future generations.”
“Committing myself to the rights of migrants – says the boy – has always been something very close to me, especially last year when it was discussed in Save the Children’s issues. Being part of the Sottosopra group from Crotone, we chose the theme of migrants also because of the Cutro massacre. What struck me was the closeness of my city to the victims and their relatives and the fact that the ship was 50 meters from the coast and those who could have saved them did not. I don’t want to go into details but I say that these people are not numbers, they are human beings who have faced more problems than us and had to flee their country because they were persecuted.”
The topic of migration is at home in Giovanni’s family “also because my mother was a linguistic mediator. I approached Save the Children because the focal point of the Sottosopra group is my aunt and because there were meetings with Save the Children in my school.”
“It is very important – reiterates the very young Standard Bearer of the Republic – to fight for one’s own rights and above all that of others. For these people, arriving in Italy and not finding recognition of their rights, as often happens, is very bad. We must overcome prejudices.”
