VOLUNTEERS on the Aquarius have told heart-wrenching tales of the migrants they helped rescue who docked today (Sunday) in Valencia and embarked on a new life filled with hope.
One of them, Fernando Justa, was in tears as he described how an orphaned 12-year-old girl fell into his arms.
The youngster, from Guinea-Conakry, started to get off the lifeboat and then froze in a state of shock, literally unable to take a step forward.
Justa talked to her and gave her a teddy bear to encourage her, and was waiting with a hug for her as she took her first steps on Valencian soil.
“It's been a long time since anyone's given me a hug like that,” she said.
Fernando said he will never forget those words.
All day, volunteers from various charities worked with around 124 children – those on the Aquarius itself were aged 15 and 16, and those on the Dattilo lifeboat were between three and 14, the vast majority of them unaccompanied.
They displayed 'a great deal of uncertainty and fear' when they arrived, so the charities' 'basic function' was 'keeping them company', Fernando explained.
Describing the task as 'rewarding and encouraging', he said: “We need to keep working to carry on putting the smiles back on all their faces.”
Another volunteer – coordinator of the counselling and social support service for the Red Cross, María José Talaverano – said a 20-year-old girl grabbed her hand and held it tightly throughout the entire process.
“It was like an anchor for her,” she said. “The mere act of holding my hand made her feel okay again.”
Sra Talaverano says she saw 'so many delighted faces' as the migrants disembarked, knowing that the worst of their ordeal was over.
“They were given loads of support and company,” she said.
“Many of them spoke to us of having a new hope for the future, like that little girl who wouldn't let go of my hand.”
The photograph shows the migrants taking in their first sight of the port of Valencia and a rescue worker carrying a small child, and was taken by the French charity SOS Méditerranée.
