“I have no memories of my father. He died in an earthquake when I was very young. He married two women. I have 15 siblings. I worked and studied in Tangier to help my mother. You have breast cancer. I just want to help her. I was very scared in the boat with my twin brother. We did not know if we would stay at sea … or if we would get there ”. Short phrases in incipient Spanish to relate experiences of great hardness.
The breathtaking story of Samir, who looks for the appropriate words when recalling his first steps in Spain, comes across many other odyssey of children thrown on a risky journey for a better future. Kids. Alone and in fear they cross the border by their own means. They flee from misery.
Zacarías, Aoytman, Souliman or Jouseff, among other adolescents, smile from a study room in the Miguel Mañara center, which they manage the Daughters of Charity in the Macarena, a place where love and hope can almost be breathed.
Now, these teenagers line up in Seville a path of chance thanks to the support of the Daughters of Charity and a private academic institution for online training, University education, what has he granted them scholarships so that they can carry out studies, with professional certificates, in different labor fields. “Some of them have already passed exams, with marks,” he explains. Antonia Guerrero placeholder image, academic director of University Training.
Souliman: “I sneaked in among the people at the border”
“I crossed the border hidden on the underside of a motorhome. My goal in life is to make my mother have a better life. Life … is very hard for her ”, explains Zacarías, a teenager with adult look.
“I sneaked through people to cross the border. I was very scared”Says Souliman, who appears to be about 14 years old, although he considers himself older. The years lived sometimes do not coincide with the official age of unaccompanied foreign minors.
“All children, regardless of where they live, should always be treated like children,” says Sor Magdalena Herrera, coordinator of the Miguel de Mañara reception center, located a few steps from the Parliament of Andalusia.
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Miguel de Mañara, the ark of children in danger
“They are children in danger. And, depending on the type of welcome we give them, they will become, or not, dangerous children ”, reflects Magdalena.
The Miguel de Mañara center, located in a building assigned and maintained by the Seville Town Hall in La Macarena it shares a roof with the municipal shelter and is historically dedicated to serving the homeless. Since the Covid-18 emergency, the Daughters of Charity have opened their doors to adolescents who arrived in Spain years ago, while they were still children, unaccompanied. After overcoming enormous obstacles, these young people help as monitors in the reception center and are trained for a normalized future.
“Years ago there was a large arrival of unaccompanied foreign children who have been cared for in juvenile centers but, upon reaching the age of majority they have been forced, without means, to live on the street ”, explains Sister Magdalena.
It started on January 1, 2020. “Two boys there was a knock on the door. I was so moved. They were on the street. They came from a juvenile center. They were accompanied by social workers who wanted to help them ”, recalls Sister Magdalena. The help is mutual.
“One of the homeless people we have had needed to go to the hospital, but he would not allow any woman to touch him. Two of our children accompanied him and they took care of their care with a delicacy, a dedication and an availability that surprised the Macarena Hospital nurses. They are precious, ”says Magdalena.
Zacarías knocked on the door of the Miguel de Mañara. “It came from the Bermejales pavilion, one of the places that was enabled during confinement for the homeless. I asked the other guys, what do we do? A week later, he returned, and we welcomed him. As the others entered, they broke into tears and hugs. He came alone, tired, hungry and dirty ”, he adds.
University Training has awarded them scholarships
Now Zacharias faces a much brighter future. Study thanks to a scholarship that has been granted University education, a private distance training entity that has granted scholarships to 21 people sheltered in Miguel de Mañara to facilitate a social and professional future.
“We go as far as we can. It is the first time that an academic institution has helped these young people with scholarships, ”says Sister Magdalena.
It is also the case of Josuseff. “He is a very intelligent boy and he is already hired. We welcome them, and they help from minute zero. They have brought enthusiasm, joy and enthusiasm. For example, Samir cooked for the entire reception center when a worker in our kitchen was on leave. He only prepared 60 dishes ”, adds the coordinator of Miguel de Mañara.
Live with dignity. When these young people feel part of a project, they go out of their way. “Nobody is so poor that they cannot give; nor so rich that he cannot receive. “Sister Magdalena continues her reflection:” The tears of a scared child will become, in a few years, adult rage, and it can be lethal. If we do not welcome them properly, people full of anger will be generated in society. It will depend on the accompaniment we give them ”.
Zacarías: “My goal, that my mother have a better life”
“I crossed the border in the underside of a motorhome. My goal in life is to make my mother have a better life ”, explains Zacarías, a teenager with an adult look.
At just 16 years old, Zacarías crossed the border by his own means, alone and in fear. Hidden in a boat, he arrived in Algeciras where police agents located him, booked him and transferred him to a juvenile center.
This young Moroccan recounts his journey with surprising naturalness: “Before crossing the border, i tried several times; and for that I had to sleep on the street for six months. Suffering ”, he adds. He fled from misery.
After staying two weeks in the Algeciras juvenile centerZacarías was transferred to another center in Valencina de la Concepción, where he remained until he came of age. Without papers or other means of life, he was forced into the street, again, just turned 18 years old.
The official age of unaccompanied foreign minors does not coincide, in many cases, with their years of life. A lots of they don’t know what day or what year they were born. “When I turned 18 I went to Huelva to try to to find a job in the field, but without papers or documentation, I did not get a job. So I went back to Seville, and I was a valet for a while, until I knocked on the door of this centro ”, recalls the young man.
Zacarias has achieved take the ESO in a single year; and you already have a Home Help course. Now this young man plans to start a Medium Grade in Nursing Assistant, thanks to a scholarship granted by the academic institution University education. Among the different degrees, “I chose Nursing Assistant because during confinement I helped a man with a disability in the center, and I really liked the experience,” says this young man with a look and words of gratitude.
Women with children, fleeing
Ouarda y Layka they crossed the border with their passports in order. Both are young men of 31 years. Mothers who fled with their young children in search of a better life. Ouarda left behind, along with her three-and-a-half-year-old son, a life trapped behind a veil and practically confined to her home. And Layla rebuilds her life in Seville with her daughter from eight years, leaving behind episodes of continued abuse.
Both women have been welcomed by Sr. Magdalena Herrera and are being formed for their future and that of their children. At the moment the Miguel de Mañara center welcomes 18 youth who, once they have reached the age of majority, have been seen on the street, without proper documentation in many cases, without means of survival. They are young people they train and work, with a future.
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