01 Constance & Christ

Constance and her son Christ. 22 years old and 3 days old. Cameroonian – Constance and her partner Yannick were kidnapped while traveling along the border between Algeria and Libya. They were separated. She was locked up in one of the many illegal prisons where migrants are ransomed, raped, and often murdered.
Constance was carrying Yannick’s child and she was coming to full term. With the help of her fellow inmates, she tried to escape: “I couldn’t climb the fence. The girls were carrying me. It wasn’t going well. They said to me, ‘Make an effort. If they find us, we’ll die.’” The small group arrived in Sabratha from where the boats leave for Europe. Constance was paralyzed by fear. One of her fellow inmates paid for her passage and forced her to embark in the middle of the night. A few hours later, on July 11, 2017, Constance gave birth in the middle of the Mediterranean. “No one helped me in the boat. There were only two women on board, but they couldn’t move. When it happened, I was the only one pushing. When the head came out, I pulled him out. The men around me were watching but they didn’t speak French. Christ came out and cried. It lasted 45 minutes. It was during the day.” In hindsight, Constance thinks she should have called her son Moses. | Aquarius 2017