“It all started with some pictures of children that drowned on a beach. We thought: if we dedicate ourselves to this and we do it on our beaches, why are they dying there and why is nobody helping them?“

That’s Proactiva Open Arms. It’s a Spanish non-governmental, non-profit organization whose mission is to rescue refugees who arrive in Europe by sea, people who are escaping wars, persecution or poverty.

Proactiva Open Arms began as an initial team of four lifeguards who decided: “We have to act. We made a promise: we won’t stop swimming until there’s not one life adrift. … Armed with only our courage, we saved 24,000 lives since September 2015. But we are still there.”

People saving people. You can help save people too. Click here.