I feel very lucky to have known and met several times Sean Devereux, who was assassinated to uphold his ideals. During my time in office as world delegate for the Salesians Past Pupils, I invited Sean to Rome for a youth meeting of the Salesian Past Pupils. He was representing the English region. I still remember the joy of Sean when I took him to the Pope's Mass in his private chapel. When we went out of the Vatican, Sean's eyes shone with joy and happiness. Many other meetings followed and during one of my official visits to the UK, I was his guest at his house. We used to correspond very often. Then one day I learnt the news that he left for Africa as a volunteer.

Devereux, a voluntary relief worker, 28 years old, had definitely refused the armed escort, something which was quite normal in this African country, torn apart by a murderous civil war. He was shot in the back by armed men while he was returning at night to the agency's building of the United Nations Children's Fund in Kismayu where he was in charge of relief projects on behalf of the United Nations. The month before, many people had seen Sean on television. He did not hide his opposition to the armed bands who were obstructing every effort to assist the needy.

In a letter bearing a prophetic tone, which he sent to his parish, he wrote: "Here the person who commands is the one who has the largest quantity of arms. I cannot go over from my house to the office (a mere 400 metres) without a bodyguard of armed men. We pay exorbitant prices in order to be able to deliver to the needy the necessities collected from so many well-wishers. The agencies which supply us know full well that we are continuously subject to blackmail and extortion. Here the authorities are just Black Mafia."

Courage

"The number of men who possess arms in order to survive is very large. Youths who were 14 years old look forward to their 'Rumbo' adventures, convinced of being able to fight for their liberty. Have we failed terribly? Perhaps it would have been better had we waited until the Somalis gave us the 'go-ahead' to work freely. My life consists of ups and downs. I feel frustrated and sick when I have to deal with the authorities, guards and contractors. Their greed is something disgusting."

In an interview, Sean's father, Dermot, said: "Sean found it very hard to deliver food to the famished in Africa because of the odds he had to face. He always spoke very frankly about the anarchy which reigns in the country where the people are suffering so much and of the insensibility of the authorities to their plight. Probably this is the reason why he was killed."

The assassination in the southern Somali Harbour, 250km away from Mogadishu, the capital city, has cut short a courageous and idealistic life. "We spoke a lot about the dangers. Sean's reply was always the same: As long as my heart beats, I have to carry out what I think I can do to help those who are worse off than me."

Dermot Devereux, a 55-year-old Irishman, who works for the Prince's Trust, remarked that his son was often threatened but his sense of justice had always prevailed. Sean's main worries were the people who were dying of starvation, and the efforts involved in bringing food and medicines to all those who needed them. He had a difficult job in trying to instil hope through various initiatives in spite of so many conflicts between the warring factions. Sean reckoned that the future of the country lay in the young.

Dermot, his wife Maureen (a district nurse) and their two daughters, Theresa and Tania, aged 29 and 18 respectively, had passed Christmas in Nairobi, Kenya. Sean was adored by his sisters.

Vibrant youth

During his life at school and at University, Sean was an extraordinary boy. He was first in whatever he did. He frequented the Salesian school in Farnborough (Hampshire) where he was first in class and very active in sports. After having studied Physics and Geography at the University of Birmingham, he taught at the Salesian College of Chertsey in Surrey. He then proceeded to the Salesian Missions in Liberia, a region in the north-west of Africa, ravaged by civil war. He had his first skirmish with death a year before when his convoy of supplies was intercepted by armed men who manhandled him. However, he continued to deliver food and medicine to a refugee camp where 14,000 persons were dying of hunger. When the missionary school in Liberia was forced to close down on account of the continuous fighting, Sean moved over to nearby Monrovia. There he started working for the United Nations and in July he was asked to go to Somalia where he was upset by the warring factions there. But it was always his ardent desire to be able to carry out, as he thought fit, whatever he considered to be important.

Sean is an extraordinary example to young people who today waste their life on futile things. Instead he gave his life for the good of others and to build a future for the youth of Africa. He is not the only Salesian Past Pupil in the world who gave his life for the good of young people. In Malta and Gozo the Salesian+ family is constantly engaged in supporting young people in need, inspired by the charism of Don Bosco.