"The family that saved 3,000 lives" (a bright spot amid the gloom...)

http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-magazine-monitor-29883832
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28953237




"We helped to save around 3,000 men, women and children who would have otherwise been likely to perish," says Christopher Catrambone who - as we reported earlier - set up the Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) with his wife, Regina, and daughter, Maria Luisa.

"I was shocked by the sheer number of migrants that are packed into each boat. Some migrants are pushed into the low deck where they are more susceptible to drowning and suffocation. You don't understand what a horrific journey this is until you actually witness it that closely," Christopher says.
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"It's difficult to comprehend the desperation that would have driven them to put their families on such a dangerous journey. And in a way these are the lucky ones. They are the ones who had the financial means to fund the trip... Many of them were professionals: teachers, engineers, lawyers."
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The Malta-based Catrambones spent two million euros (£1.59m) of their own money funding the mission. They are now trying to raise enough money to send the boat out again next year."

http://www.christophercatrambone.com/biography/
"I’m Chris Catrambone, a humanitarian, entrepreneur and adventurer from Lake Charles, Louisiana. I’ve worked in some of the world’s most dangerous places including Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as New Orleans’ most violent housing projects. I’ve owned a steamboat restaurant in the Virgin Islands, run a political campaign in Louisiana and worked at the US Congress in Washington DC.
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In 2012, I founded the Organisation for Better Security (OBS), an international forum for people who live and work in conflict zones. Along with weekly articles, OBS includes in-depth reports and minute-by-minute alerts on threatening situations.

In 2013, I founded the Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS), to reduce the number of migrant deaths at sea. The goal of the project is to alleviate the needless suffering of thousands of people seeking a safe and stable new home."