TESTIMONIALS
Haruna Garba
Short version (3 min.)
“It took me four years to get from Togo to Spain, but I found a family when I arrived.”
Although Haruna Garba was born in Togo, he feels very Valencian. His story puts a face to the daily drama of immigration from Africa to Europe. Today, he is happily married with three children and has lived in Spain for over 20 years, but his journey to get here was far from easy. At just twelve years of age, he left Togo, his country, after his father died. He embarked on a risky,long and difficult, journey especially when he reached the desert, where he had to face bandits, That he states, ‘marked my life; they even put a gun to my head.’ .
Once in our country, things started to change, first in the Canary Islands, and after 45 days, he was taken to Valencia. There, at 16, when he saw his new city, he shouted, “Long live Spain.” Once in our country, things started to change, first in the Canary Islands, and after 45 days, he was taken to Valencia. There, at 16 years old, when he saw his new city, he shouted, “Long live Spain.” At 37 years old, Haruna wants to testify to how well he was cared for at Xabec, which, although it is a vocational training center, is much more than that: ‘there I found a family; Xabec is love.’ It started as a small center, but today it has more than 1,500 students, thanks in part to the loans from the foundations. Being an orphan, he says, is one of the main reasons people, at least in his country, migrate to Europe, and that is precisely what he is trying to address with his work. After working at Xabec as an IT specialist for several years, his current dream is to prevent other children from suffering as he did and being forced to leave their country by building a school for orphaned children. He asserts they are the most vulnerable and forced to leave the country, “just like it happened to me,” says Garba.
Today, that first school is already a reality where they receive an education and “have breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”
He seeks funds and greatly appreciates all the help he receives, but his dreams do not end in Togo; he wants to extend his idea to many other African countries. He acknowledges that all of this would not have been possible without the help of people like Luis Valls and his foundations, and this Togolese Muslim affirms with a big smile that “thanks to him, Xabec is one of the best schools in the world.”