Italian Red Cross volunteer taking care of migrants tells her story
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Version 0 of 1. Red Cross nurse Emanuela Pagana, 29, is an on-call volunteer in the port of Catania in Sicily. She is one of the first people on hand to offer help to those who make the treacherous journey across the Mediterranean, and can have hundreds of people arrive in one vessel. She tells Alessandra Bonomolo what it is like: “When I get a call, I need to be quick to sort everything at home. “I’m married and have a five-year-old boy. I make sure my child is in good hands before I leave everything behind. When they need me, I must go. It’s not easy when you have a family and another job on the side to support your loved ones. But my little boy is lucky. He has mum and dad and a home. Migrants have nothing when they arrive. “Last summer, late at night, a boat arrived. Survivors were disembarked first. If there are 500 people, as it happened that night, it may take up to six hours to assess and take care of them. In those situations, we all need to find a difficult balance between being quick to offer help as soon as possible and give everyone the care they need. We need to be fair and concentrated.” As well as provide help for those who have survived the journey, she has to take charge of those who did not make it. “They come out of the boat in black bags,” she says. “Sometimes those bags are so small that you know there is a child in there. “I’m a mother. It’s an emotion you can’t control. “There was one family that only had a little brother alive. He was the first who disembarked. He was in shock and alone. He had seen his mother and sister dying before his eyes. They took him away to give him psychological support. He didn’t see the coffins leave the port. I was there that night. I did.” |