The Drowned Dreams: A Generation Lost Between Hope and the Sea

By Dr. Liban Omar

In every coastal wave of the Mediterranean lies a silent story — the story of a youth who dreamt of life, but met death in search of it. Thousands of Somali and African young men and women have vanished in the ocean, believing that across the waters lies a better tomorrow. What they found instead was the deep blue grave that swallowed both their bodies and their dreams.

Behind each drowned youth is a family living in endless mourning. Mothers who no longer sleep, fathers who no longer speak, and siblings who wake to the echo of absence. The pain of losing a child in such a way — without a burial, without closure — is a wound that never heals. The mother becomes a ghost of herself: sleepless, starved of peace, asking questions that have no answers — Why my son? How did he die? When did he last breathe? The grief becomes her only companion.

Over time, that pain transforms. It becomes despair, depression, and sometimes even suicidal thoughts. Many parents live trapped between memory and madness, punished not only by loss but also by society’s silence. Instead of compassion, the grieving mother is labeled waali — crazy — when she cries too long or talks to her missing son in the dark. Communities stigmatize what they don’t understand, forgetting that trauma untreated becomes illness unseen.

The tragedy is not only personal — it’s collective. An entire generation is traumatized. We are losing both the youth who leave and the parents who remain behind. A society cannot heal when its mothers are broken and its young people are drowning — whether in the sea, in drugs, or in hopelessness. Many young men numb their pain with alcohol or drugs; others risk their lives again, driven by desperation and the illusion of escape. This cycle of loss continues, one boat after another, one dream after another.

The roots of this tragedy run deep: joblessness, lack of opportunity, inequality, corruption, and the absence of meaningful programs that give young people direction. When a society offers no purpose, the youth will search for it elsewhere — even if it costs them their lives.

We must face a hard truth: Our future depends on how we invest in our youth today. Without education, work discipline, faith, and unity, our children will inherit not hope, but despair. Survival mode has made us think only of money, forgetting meaning. We work to eat, but not to build; we collect wealth, but neglect wisdom. Poverty has traumatized us to believe that money defines life — yet it is not money that makes the human; it is the human who gives money its value.

We must ask ourselves: What legacy are we leaving? Do we want our children to inherit blessings — or curses, pain, and misery? The answer lies in our daily choices. Give them your time. Encourage them. Be a role model in deeds, not just words. Teach them that dignity, faith, and discipline are greater treasures than any fortune.

A nation that loses its youth loses its tomorrow. But a nation that heals its families, educates its young, and restores its moral compass can rise again.

Healthy minds lead to a healthy society.

The healing begins when we remember that every child lost to the ocean is not just a number — it is a story, a promise, a piece of our collective soul.