The Family Who Brought Three Sisters To Safety
On February 25, María Jesús Márquez and her husband Juan Luis Escobar, of Ciudad Real in central Spain, got into their Citroën C4 to make a lengthy round trip: roughly 7700 kilometres. They were heading to Ubla, a village in eastern Slovakia on the Ukraine border.
Their mission? To pick up three Ukrainian sisters – Liubava Fil, 14; Yesenia Fil, 12; and Varya Fil, 10 – and give them refuge from the escalating war.
“These girls had to flee, in desperation, an unjust war in which they had become immersed,” says Juan Luis.
The group of five returned from their long drive on March 5. María Jesús and Juan Luis were visibly tired as they explained to media that the journey had indeed been exhausting, but also very exciting because they were able to bring these three girls to safety.
During the summers of 2017, 2018 and 2019, the couple had hosted Yesenia in their home through an aid programme. So when the girls’ older sister, Juliana, 18, asked for their help – starting with a message to them on Instagram that read, “Juan, María, please come for my sisters, this is very bad and horrible” – they didn’t hesitate to do it.
It was a difficult trip, partly because the couple couldn’t share the driving; only Maria Jesús has a driver’s licence. Also, they didn’t have much time to plan a route or arrange accommodation. But their daughter Andrea, 25, who remained in Spain, helped them with logistics along the way.
They also had the support of friends and members of Ciudad Real en Ayuda al Niño, the non-profit organisation that had arranged Yesenia’s previous visits.
The couple says they experienced beautiful moments of solidarity with, and generosity from, many people, including in Poland, Germany and France. For example, a Polish family opened their home to the group to stay on the return trip to Spain. And others contacted them through various social networks to offer accommodation.
“There was even a restaurant that
On the trip, they experienced generosity from many people, and beautiful moments of solidarity
wouldn’t let us pay for our meals when they learned we were taking in three Ukrainian girls f leeing the war,” Juan Luis says.
He acknowledges that the saddest moment of the trip was when the girls’ mother had to say goodbye to her daughters. How have the girls coped with the separation? “We tried to avoid talking about it,” Juan Luis shares.
“We didn’t want to upset them further.”
The two youngest, Yesenia and Varya, will stay with Maria Jesús and Juan Luis, and Liubava will go to another foster family that lives only a few kilometres away.
Yesenia did not hide her joy upon arriving in Spain: she greeted journalists in Cuidad Real with a cheerful “Hola!” and said she wanted to go to Juan Luis and María Jesús’s house for an ice cream.
Now, the foster couple will begin the necessary paperwork, starting with ensuring the girls get health care and can attend school.
How long will the Fil sisters be welcome to stay? For as long as they need to and as long as their family wants them to, the couple says.
“We know that after a war there is a post-war period, and there will be many difficult moments,” says Juan Luis. “But we are prepared to face it, and we will treat the girls as if they are our own daughters.”