Migrant bus driver breaks stereotypes in Florence
STORY: Madou Koulibaly is Tuscany's first migrant bus driver
He is part of a drive in Italy to fill labor gaps with foreign workers
(Madou Koulibaly, Bus driver)
"They told me: 'Koulibaly there is an opportunity for you, Autolinee Toscane (Tuscan public bus company) is looking for bus drivers.' I asked 'The bus?' and said 'No, I can't drive the bus.' They asked me why and I answered that I had never seen an African who arrived with a boat, driving a bus in Italy. They said: 'But certainly, they will give you a chance. You can do it!"
Koulibaly left his native country of Guinea in 2018
and crossed Mali, Algeria, Morocco and Libya
before being rescued from a boat in the Mediterranean Sea with 161 other migrants
"I am doing this job for myself, for my family, and for all the migrants who are in Italy because so many people think we are all bad and that there are jobs here that we cannot do. That's not the case. We have the luck to do it."
Koulibaly is feeling the welcoming front of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's contrasting immigration plans
Meloni has vowed to clamp down on unauthorized arrivals from North Africa
though she is opening the door to migrants who will work in Italy legally
