In many corners of the African continent, mothers bid farewell to their sons as they set forth on perilous journeys, fleeing war, poverty, and environmental catastrophe.
These young men depart with the hope of forging a better life elsewhere yet for countless families, the departure marks the beginning of an agonising silence. Years may pass without a single word. No call, no letter, no sign of life.
Africa is a journalistic initiative seeking to illuminate this silent grief. Spearheaded in collaboration with Irpi Media, the project — poignantly titled Mums — endeavours to give voice to the anguish of mothers left in limbo, whose sons have vanished into the treacherous networks of migration.
The first of three scheduled missions took place in The Gambia, where the team documented harrowing testimonies and captured the emotional landscape of those left behind. These missions will ultimately culminate in the production of a documentary that lays bare the human cost of irregular migration from the African continent to Europe.
Mums is more than a reportage — it is a testament. A call to bear witness. Through interviews, investigations, and intimate storytelling, it seeks not only to inform, but to restore dignity to those whose pain is too often ignored. In a world ever more attuned to statistics, this project reminds us of the individuals — the mothers, the sons — behind the numbers.